PortraitFor having tirelessly denounced the illegal refoulement of migrants carried out by the coast guards, he has become the target of the conservative Greek authorities. On social networks, the far right is unleashed against this former engineer who, since 2015, has been rescuing migrants at sea.
“Greek authorities abduct refugees on the Greek coast and then throw them into the open sea.” Without mincing words, on May 10, Iasonas Apostolopoulos, Greek sea rescuer, invited to the European Parliament, denounces the illegal refoulement of migrants in the Aegean Sea. This practice, contrary to international law, consists of preventing new arrivals from applying for asylum in Greece and forcibly returning them to Turkey. Athens has always denied using these methods.
But several investigations by international media, NGOs and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have described this procedure, which has become systematic: the arrest by the police or the Greek coast guards of asylum seekers once arrived on Greek territory, their confinement in unofficial detention centers and their return, often accompanied by racketeering and violence, to Turkey on motorless canoes on the open sea or on the Evros river, which separates the two countries. Since the start of 2020, UNHCR has recorded approximately 540 reported incidents of informal pushbacks from Athens.
“If love of country means accepting the killings of refugees on our borders, then I am proud to be a traitor. Iasonas Apostolopoulos, on Twitter
With this intervention, broadcast several weeks later on social networks in Greece, the man with the laughing eyes drew the wrath of the conservative party in power. “The insults and calumnies of Mr. Apostolopoulos made to his country go beyond the limits”, responded government spokesman Yiannis Economou on June 7. According to him, at a time when relations between Athens and Ankara are once again tense, he “stab in the back” his compatriots and the Greek Coast Guard. In a grandstand published on June 17 on the website Efimerida, Eliza Vozemberg, a Greek conservative MEP, calls him a“enemy within”.
On social networks, the long-haired activist receives dozens of death threats from the Greek fachosphere. In pro-government newspapers and television stations, he is referred to as a “traitor to the fatherland”. “If love of country means accepting the killings of refugees on our borders, then I am proud to be a traitor,” he replies with his usual repartee to his detractors on Twitter, where he is followed by more than 21,000 people.
At 38, Iasonas Apostolopoulos is part of the generation of Greeks who weathered the financial crisis that began in 2008 by engaging in solidarity actions. Alongside a group of residents of his residential suburbs in the north of Athens, he gave free Greek lessons to foreigners and participated in the distribution of meals for the poorest. But, in 2015, his life changes.
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