»The truth may be bitter, but it must be told« territory »… sometimes, when we find them on land, near the coast, we collect them up and drive them back«. Due to the politically tense situation in the border regions, one of the biggest concerns of the authorities are potential encounters with the Turkish coast guard or navy. According to Mikromastoras, this is the reason why the Greek military does not really operate in the border regions: »The military would like to avoid that (activity in the border regions). They say that if they get involved in such things, a war could be provoked. A war could start through something like that! That is what they want to avoid. But the secret services are involved«16. The coast guard’s brief is to intercept boats carrying irregular migrants and convince them to turn back. Generally, it is not difficult to stop the boats – if necessary nets or ropes are thrown into the propeller – however the second part of their mission is not as straightforward. »If we are close to a sea border, the boats are asked to turn back.« A coast guard officer explains: »If necessary we pull them over with a rope. But often the Turkish coast guard is already waiting there, that is the problem.« difficult to ascertain in such conditions: »Everything occurs at night. Who can define where the sea border runs? It’s a ping ball game: The Greeks send the irregular migrants to Turkey and Turkey sends the boat back to the Greek side; in the process people die and ships go down … « The dead refugees of Mitilini In a secluded corner of the graveyard of Mitilini lies the resting place of Rahim Sarvari, a refugee from Afghanistan. His gravestone bears the inscription »No 1, 21 – 10 – 2006«. The 30-year-old man drowned on the way to Europe. He is one of the few who lie in the graveyard of St Panteleimon in Mitilini, whose identity can be confirmed. His body was identified by family members. Attempts to have his body delivered to Afghanistan failed, due to administrative hurdles in Greece. The second grave, bearing the inscription »No 2« is the resting place of an Afghan who drowned alongside Nameless grave of a refugee in Mitilini/ Lesbos. Because of the political situation, there is no cooperation or even joint rescue missions in the border area. Quite the contrary: A Greek patrol boat, carrying or dragging the boats full of refugees across a sea border, faces a real risk of confrontation with Turkish units. Officer N. describes the attitude of the Turkish towards the Greek coast guard: »Sometimes they come towards us, guns ready, and drive in circles around us, to scare us«. The commandos of the special units »which sometimes return people directly to the Turkish coast« come into contact with their Turkish »colleagues« more frequently. »Sometimes they have problems getting back to Lesbos, because the Turkish coast guard discovered them, and then chases our people«, says N. »Everyone is kept informed, but not by radio. It is all done by mobile phone«. Commands to turn off their headlights, are also related to Greek-Turkish hostilities. »The Turks shouldn’t know what our movements are« one officer says, because »relations between us and the Turkish coast guard are like during the Cold War.« It is a conflict, between whose fronts refugees and migrants frequently find themselves stuck, as the lawyer Natassa Strachini fears. National responsibilities are The practices of the Greek coast guard: systematic human rights violations 15