Athens, 13 November 2025- Throughout October, multiple deadly shipwrecks and violent maritime interceptions were reported near Lesvos and other Aegean islands, resulting in preventable deaths, missing persons, and survivors arriving in severe distress. At the end of the month, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) had also denounced the increasing use of administrative and psychological deterrence against asylum seekers in Greece, warning that such policies continue to put lives at risk.
These events form part of the ongoing border violence that our teams witness regularly through their medical and psychological support to people arriving on the islands.
The trauma of these experiences is evident. People arrive in shock, extremely distressed, and deeply affected by the constant threat to their lives.
MSF medical and mental health teams were present during several of these landings, providing emergency care to 58 survivors, conducting medical and mental health assessments, and offering psychological first aid. In these encounters, MSF teams heard accounts of at least several attempted crossings and three shipwrecks in Lesvos in October alone, showing the ongoing violence and risks people face just to reach safety.
Beyond the emergency response, MSF social workers on the islands support survivors through some of the most painful and often unseen consequences of these incidents, including accompanying individuals to the hospital to identify drowned relatives. More challenges continue inside the Closed Controlled Access Centers (CCACs), where many face poor reception conditions, insufficient or delayed medical screening, and limited access to specialized care. For people who have just survived a life-threatening journey, the lack of a functioning and protective reception system adds to the trauma they already carry.
For nearly a decade, border policies focused on deterrence have made violence at the borders seem normal and necessary, forcing people to risk drowning just to reach safety. Recent shipwrecks, just like those in past years, are in plain sight, but no one has been held accountable.
MSF urges Greek and EU authorities to:
- Immediately stop all violent deterrence practices that endanger people’s lives and safety.
- Guarantee for safe, coordinated, and proactive search-and-rescue operations in the Aegean, in line with international maritime obligations.
- Allow unhindered humanitarian and medical access to survivors in all reception, detention, and border facilities.
- Ensure that all migration and border management policies respect the preservation of life and dignity, in compliance with human rights and maritime law.
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Related:
- SAR
- Search and Rescue
