2.1. One Year After the Deadly Pylos Shipwreck Image 1. The Adriana vessel/ Source: Hellenic Coast Guard On 14 June 2023, the “Adriana” fishing vessel, traveling from Libya to Italy with hundreds of migrants on board, sank off Pylos, leaving over 600 people dead or/and missing and 104 survivors. The deadly incident took place in international waters, inside the Greek Search and Rescue (SAR) zone, meaning the Greek state was responsible for initiating the necessary search and rescue operation. Alarm Phone2 and Frontex, separately, alerted the Greek authorities but no rescue operation was attempted. Furthermore, Frontex did not issue a Mayday alert even though one of its aircraft had observed that the boat was overcrowded and passengers had no life jackets. 3 A search and rescue operation by the Hellenic Coast Guard (HCC) was initiated only after the boat had capsized. Frontex Fundamental Rights Office4 Document unveiled the prolonged inaction of the HCC, while leaving open the possibility that the sinking may have been caused by the Coast Guard’s attempt to tow the vessel, citing the consistency of the survivors’ testimonies. 5 Watch the Med - Alarm Phone is a hotline for boatpeople in distress. See the website here: https:// alarmphone.org/en/about/ 2 3 See the European Ombudsman’s Decision on how the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) complies with its fundamental rights obligations with regard to search and rescue in the context of its maritime surveillance activities, in particular the Adriana shipwreck (OI/3/2023/MHZ), 26 February 2024, available at: https://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/decision/en/182665 4 “The Fundamental Rights Officer (FRO) is mandated with monitoring Frontex’s implementation of its fundamental rights obligations in accordance with EU and international law and with advising the Executive Director on fundamental rights-related issues. The FRO and the staff of the Fundamental Rights Office, including Fundamental Rights Monitors, have an independent role within the agency to reinforce respect, protection and promotion of fundamental rights” in: Frontex, Fundamental Rights at Frontex, available at: https://www.frontex. europa.eu/fundamental-rights/fundamental-rights-at-frontex/fundamental-rights-office/ 5 Justice4Pylos, Frontex Fundamental Rights Office document exposes Greek authorities, 6 February 2024, available at: https://tinyurl.com/5t4r3sbk AT EUROPE’S BORDERS: PUSHBACKS CONTINUE AS IMPUNITY PERSISTS 7