Shocking allegations by Mayor of Samos: The crime of faulty life jackets for refugees has to stop

Shocking allegations were made today by the mayor of Samos about the refugees that are coming from Turkey. Mayor Michalis Angelopoulos spoke to realfm 97,8 and the journalist Nikos Chatzinikolaou. He confirmed that: “the crime with the faulty life jackets has a double effect” and revealed: “These life jackets have foam or nothing inside. “

When asked if the children who died last Wednesday at the latest shipwreck in Kokkari, 100 meters from the coast of Samos, were wearing faulty Turkish life jackets, the mayor said: “Three million dollars is the profit of the slave trade made in Turkey. Not only those children were found wearing Turkish faulty life jackets, but the refugees are being blackmailed. The slave traders tell  them that “if you do not get on the boat on a specific night, you will lose the money you gave.” If the refugees still refuse to go on the boat, they are told that “Greece will close the borders in two days, so you have to travel now. ‘”

And Angelopoulos added: “The crime with the life jackets has a dramatic double effect. Not only the refugees feel they can travel safely with the jackets, but the faulty life jackets make it impossible to swim.“

This comes as no surprise. About three weeks ago it was reported that Turkish police had raided a workshop in the coastal city of Izmir that was making defective life jackets intended to be sold to refugees and migrants making the desperate journey across the Aegean to Greece.

Police seized more than 1,200 life jackets after the allegations, according to Turkish news outlet Hurriyet. Rather than helping people remain buoyant in the water, the vests were made of a material that becomes heavy when wet and would ultimately drag someone down if they did plunge into the water.

The faulty life jackets were reportedly sold for a third of the price of a standard lifejacket to those desperate enough to embark on the dangerous journey to Greece. Hurriyet said that the workshop had also employed two under-aged Syrian girls as workers.

Just one day before the allegations, nearly two dozen people died in two separate boat accidents off the Turkish coasts after capsizing in bad weather. When their bodies, including those of at least three children, washed up on shore, some were still wearing the life vests that had failed to save them. It’s not clear if they were life jackets from the factory.

Izmir is a main launch point for many of the refugees and migrants who leave Turkey packed onto rubber dinghies and aging fishing boats in an attempt to make it to nearby Greece. Once better known as a tourist destination, its streets are now packed with vendors selling lifejackets and other necessities for migrants and refugees.

Source: Real.gr

Source: Breakingworld.news