Geneva/Budapest/Athens, 15 June 2023 – The Hellenic Red Cross volunteers have been supporting the survivors of the deadliest shipwreck off Greece this year, in southwest of Pylos in the Peloponnese.

Red Cross teams have rapidly responded in the rescue efforts, providing health and care support, food, and other basic items.

“As time passes, the chances of people surviving becomes less and less likely. People are exhausted as they were already at sea for days: they are in shock and distress. Many require urgent health care. They will need mental health and psychosocial support in the coming hours and days. I have never seen a rescue operation like this one before. It is a tragedy,” said Dimitris Chaliotis, Hellenic Red Cross volunteer.

“It is heart-wrenching and simply unacceptable that these people, who were seeking safety and a better future, have died at the EU borders in 2023. The first quarter of this year was already the deadliest on record on the Central Mediterranean route and this tragedy could be one of the worst ever as the search for the missing continues. Every one of the lives lost should be on our collective conscience due to the failure to provide safe pathways to protection,” said Frido Herinckx, IFRC operations manager.

For more information or to request an interview, please contact: [email protected]

In Geneva:

• Tommaso Della Longa, +41 79 708 43 67
• Anna Tuson, +41 79 895 69 24

In Budapest:

Corrie Butler, +36 70 430 6506