A senior European human rights official has called on Greece to respond to allegations of negligence surrounding a 2023 migrant boat disaster that claimed hundreds of lives off the country’s southern coast.
Michael O’Flaherty, the Council of Europe’s Human Rights Commissioner, highlighted recent findings by Greece’s Ombudsman, which suggest that the Greek coast guard failed to prevent one of the deadliest migrant shipwrecks in the Mediterranean.
The tragedy occurred in June 2023 when the Adriana, an overcrowded fishing trawler carrying hundreds of migrants, sank in international waters off Pylos. Survivors allege that the Greek coast guard ignored initial distress calls and failed to act before the vessel capsized—claims that the Greek government strongly denies.
Greece’s Ombudsman, Andreas Pottakis, found “clear indications” that senior coast guard officials disregarded the imminent danger to those aboard the vessel.
“The Commissioner, who works closely with the Ombudsman, acknowledges his critical findings and urges the authorities to take decisive action to ensure both criminal and disciplinary accountability,” O’Flaherty’s office stated in a report released Tuesday.
During his visit to Greece last week, O’Flaherty met with five government ministers and senior officials, as well as shipwreck survivors, their legal representatives, and human rights organisations.
The ill-fated Adriana was carrying between 500 and 750 people when it sank while en route from Libya to Italy. Only 104 people survived, and 82 bodies were recovered. The remaining passengers were trapped inside the vessel as it went down.
Last week, the Greek government reiterated its full confidence in the coast guard’s border protection and rescue efforts. Officials argued that the Ombudsman’s report had unfairly accepted survivors’ allegations “without any reliable documentation.”
A Greek court last year dismissed charges against nine Egyptian shipwreck survivors who had been accused of causing the disaster, ruling that it lacked jurisdiction since the incident took place in international waters.