Hiding in the crystal blue waters of the Aegean Sea lies a dark secret. If true, the Greek islands have become much more than a sun-drenched paradise for those living the holiday dream. There are dark rumours of EU-funded boats carrying masked men, people being rounded up on land, forced onto coast guard boats and then abandoned in flimsy rubber dinghies at sea. There are multiple cases of people subsequently losing their lives. Are these masked men responsible? Against this troubling background, in June 2023, an overloaded trawler flips in front of a Greek coast guard patrol boat. More than 600 men, women and children die in the water. A billionaire’s super yacht takes survivors to shore. The accounts of these survivors suggest that coast guard is at fault – something the Greek authorities deny.
After the screening, we will have a Q&A session with Mohammad lheman and Romy Baarsen, both also appear in the documentary.
Deze week verdronken er minstens twaalf vluchtelingen in Het Kanaal tussen Frankrijk en Engeland. Daarmee werd een triest record gevestigd. Journalist Romy van Baarsen volgt de migratiestromen in Europa voor onder andere One World, De Groene en de BBC. Zij vertelt over de gevaren die bootvluchtelingen het hoofd moeten bieden, op het Kanaal en vooral ook op de Middellandse Zee. En passant verklapt ze hoe zij in contact kwam met de Griekse kustwacht, en uit de eerste hand hoorde hoe die de hand licht met Europese wetten en regels.
"This gut-punch documentary about the deaths of more than 500 asylum seekers – and the masked men rounding up refugees – makes a specific, horrific allegation. (...) Dead Calm ought to lead to severe consequences for someone – perhaps the most disturbing part of it is the almost certain knowledge that we live in a world where it won’t."
