(AFP) Greece’s coast guard on Sunday said a group of migrants in distress in the Ionian Sea had refused to be rescued, amid widespread reports of illegal pushbacks.
The coast guard said the group of at least 56 asylum seekers were on board a sailing boat that ran into difficulty on Saturday in high winds near the island of Cephalonia.
“All through the day, the migrants radioed back that they would not accept any assistance from nearby vessels and from the Greek authorities,” the coast guard said in a statement.
It was only after nightfall, and with weather conditions worsening, that the migrants agreed to be picked up by a passing Singapore-flagged tanker, the statement said.
