When crossing the sea strait separating Turkey from Greece towards Lesvos, the migrants are often attracted by the sight of the life-vests and rubber boats left on the shores. The bright orange colour of the life-vests orientates the migrants, under the false conviction that if those objects lie there, someone else “made it” before them…

The EU – Turkey agreement has not resulted in preventing the people fleeing to engage in the dangerous sea crossing towards Europe. On the contrary they leave at night and take longer patterns, with a higher risk of lives loss, due to shipwrecks and hypothermia. The past weeks have witnessed three to four deadly incidents…

Photo Credit: MSF A boat carrying about 85 people capsized off the northern coast of Lesvos, Greece, at 2.30pm of 16 December, causing at least two deaths. When arrived on scene, two assistance boats from MSF and Greenpeace began rescuing as many people as possible, with Sea-Watch supporting the search, with a team of hellenic…

Lesvos, 12.12.15 “Today we started at 8:15. After only a few minutes we spotted a heavily overcrowded boat glowing orange from all the life vests aboard. The ten meter long boat carried 60 people including children, women and elderly. The boat was heading towards a steep coast. We then rerouted it to the port of…

A week after the agreement between the EU and Turkey, the migrant flow towards Greece has considerably decreased, yet it is far from stopping. In Lesvos, the arrivals shifted from the Northern coast to the Eastern and Southern part of the island. Only a few boats have been reported approaching the beach of Skala Sykamineas…

According to the UNHCR, up to now nearly 430,000 migrants arrived in Lesvos in 2015. During the sole month of November, 65% of the total arrivals in Greece have been concentrated in Lesvos. This counts 83,000 persons, with an average daily arrival of 3000 migrants. The top nationalities include Syrians, forming almost half of the…

After two weeks of operations on the island of Lesvos, Sea-Watch has assisted numerous rubber boats ensuring the safety of their passengers on their way to the shores of Lesvos. The crew has been operating in the Northern coastline of Lesvos, where most arrivals have been concentrated so far. In the latest days, the number…