Refugees...

Syria is a hell hole. Dictatorship and religion the cause... World War III the solution but who wants that? So if you are a young man in Syria say, 16 -25 you take sides, you take up arms and you fight or, if your parents have money, they get you out.

The route is over the Turkish border. Get yourself to a take off point some 1,300kms away following the 'Blue Route' Once there, find an agent who will supply a 25 man black dingy with motor, brand new high quality life jackets and instructions as to what to do when you arrive on Greek soil.

We suspect the 'agent' is actually the Turkish authorities moving this ever growing problem along. After all these refugees would rather get to the EU where the choices are larger than Turkey alone.

We had come across some refugees before in Kos where we began our voyage this year and there have been some on Leros and Samos. They seemed in good shape, most carrying the latest in communication technology, happy taking selfies and calling 'home' we assume?


But it is the shear number that stunned us on our drive between Molinos and Panayia. a 23 minute drive which took us a couple of hours as we came across hundreds of abandoned high quality Yamaha life jackets and at least 50 dinghies capable of carrying 25 passengers, all sliced open and useless having done their job.

The road follows the coast line occasionally dropping to sea level and as you see on Google Earth above, not a long way from the Turkish mainland.

Why slice the dinghies open? well it's about the law of the sea. If you are 'shipwrecked' on foreign soil, it is the responsibility of that country to take care of you. Once there, you are then able to claim Refugee Status. You are Interpol checked and if all clear, issued with a 6 month visa.
From here, we guess they go through some EU charter for refugees?

A few questions had to be asked... A 25 man dinghy with motor would run at around Aus$25,000. The life jackets are top of the line standard PFD's $250.00 a piece. How are these being supplied, by whom and where. The fact that the refugees themselves, whilst carrying hardly anything at all, do seem to have IPhones and IPads, decent clothing and footwear.

A possible conclusion would be that these are fairly affluent Syrians who were living in fear of their lives. They have no choice but to leave with what they are wearing and can fit into their pockets to start a new life in a culturally different, unwelcoming world. Rich or poor, this scenario would just suck.

As we drove back that evening, there they were in their hundreds. Spread the entire length of the highway, their next step was to walk the 60kms from where they'd abandoned their life jackets to the Port Authority in Mitilini. There they would join the burgeoning throngs of those who got there before them and await processing

Every evening we were moored after that day, the local Coast Guard would venture out at night and return laden with Syrians the next morning.



These people were on this dock when we arrived in Kulukkuyu, Turkey at around 3:00pm. It was 36 degrees in the shade but we could not tell how long they'd been there. We suspected since the early morning....


They were there for at least another hour after we arrived in the blinding heat. An ambulance did turn up, we imagined for a heat stroke victim. The women and crying babies were separated and provided better treatment.

Not sure why the men were made to suffer. Perhaps it is Turkey's way of persuading them that Greece might be a better option?

We sailed to Alibey, Turkey the following day arrived late afternoon and again, another large patrol boat load of Syrians

A feeling of complete helplessness descended, Get them some water, spray them with a hose, something... All cringed with the thought that they were actually fortunate it was Greece and not Australian shores they were arriving on.....