A dead girl, forty-days old, two young children and fourteen adults including a pregnant woman, were picked up by Port Police officers on the afternoon of Tuesday 12 January.

Symi Port Authority was informed by a resident of the island that in the “Taviri” area of Nimos there were people in the sea. Without delay, the two Port Police vessels rushed to the spot and picked up the people whose little plastic boat had sunk. They were immediately taken to the medical centre in Yialos for emergency treatment. During their questioning it was revealed that one of them was a 19 year old Turkish man who, after confessing to transporting the 17 people from the Turkish coast, was arrested. At the order of the Rhodes Public Prosecutor, the trafficker as well as the infant's parents, were taken to Rhodes where they were charged. The infant's parents are charged with manslaughter, and the trafficker faces, according to our information, a life sentence. The Home Office has asked the Mayor for official information about the event (the relevant letter is published in the <a href="newsofsymi.htm">News of Symi</a> newspaper).

The residents of Symi have been horrified by the drowning of the infant, talking about it for days, and pointing the finger of blame to our neighbours on the opposite-shore and accusing them of a lack of humanity. They have also failed to understand the reason why the relevant authorities, despite the repeated pleas by the Municipality, have taken no action to assure good living conditions for illegal immigrants that come to our island. In the days after the tragedy and with no boats leaving Symi due to bad weather, these people remained outdoors as the Police Station has nowhere to offer them shelter. We hope that the cruel loss of an infant’s life will make the relevant government officials more aware of what is happening.


© The News of Symi newspaper
Translation © SymiGreece.com
Re-publication is prohibited without the written permission of the editor of the News of Symi newspaper and SymiGreece.com

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