Boy drowns – father accused of running away – NRK Urix – Foreign News & Documentaries

There are 4,600 children in Greek refugee camps. Most of them have crossed the ocean and are life threatening. For the first time in EU history, a father is accused of taking his son to a dangerous escape and endangering his life.

Greek authorities say that when a human life is lost, it should be investigated.

Auxiliary workers believe the indictment is an attack on the right to seek asylum. They fear the test is an attempt to intimidate potential immigrants.

Disappeared in the waves

It was in November last year that the Afghan man and his five-year-old son left the Turkish city of Izmir. This place is the Greek holiday island of Samos. Transport mechanisms A small, inflatable boat.

The boat was crushed on a cliff off the Greek coast. In the dark waves, the five-year-old boy floated away from his father. And disappeared.

The 25-year-old was eventually taken ashore by the Greek Coast Guard. The boy’s body was found elsewhere. The same Coast Guard has now declared danger. The crime he was charged with was life threatening for his son.

Not for fun

– I didn’t come here for fun. I came to protect my son’s future. No father or mother would risk the lives of their children. The 25-year-old man told the news agency AP that I had to travel.

– I do not know how to live without him. He was only with me. All my hopes were with him.

Man wants to be anonymous.

His defense attorney, Dimitris Saulis, says the case is an attempt to divert the attention of Greek coastguards who failed to save the boy’s life.

– to be investigated

This was denied by Greek Migration Minister Notice Mitarachi.

– If human life is lost, it should be investigated whether anyone, unknowingly or intentionally violated the law, he says.

Mitarachi points out that there is no risk of death when asylum seekers are in Turkey, a country that the EU considers safe.

The accused person has been on the run since the age of nine. He twice rejected his asylum application in Turkey.

– We know this is the first time in the EU that a father or guardian has been accused of endangering their child by taking him to Europe, according to Nick van der Steinhoven news agency AP. Works for an organization called Choice Love. No trial date has been set.