1
00:00:01,933 --> 00:00:04,000
NICK SCHIFRIN: The E.U. 
says the number of migrants 
entering Europe last year hit

2
00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:09,000
a six-year high to well over 
100,000. That is a 50 percent 
increase over the previous year.

3
00:00:10,866 --> 00:00:14,233
But Greece has been 
prosecuting the humanitarian 
workers who try to save

4
00:00:16,166 --> 00:00:19,600
asylum seekers at sea. 
And the U.N. and the E.U. 
say those prosecutions

5
00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:24,600
are having a chilling effect. 
Now a court case could 
prolong migrants' uncertainty.

6
00:00:25,866 --> 00:00:27,600
Here's special correspondent 
Malcolm Brabant.

7
00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:31,900
MALCOLM BRABANT: Slogans 
outside a court on the 
Greek island of Lesbos

8
00:00:31,900 --> 00:00:36,833
encapsulate concerns of 
the U.N. and E.U.'s human 
rights commissioners.

9
00:00:38,866 --> 00:00:42,366
They're appalled that 24 
search-and-rescue volunteers 
face long jail sentences for

10
00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:48,366
trying to save lives. The 
best known defendant is 
Sarah Mardini, a Syrian

11
00:00:53,966 --> 00:00:58,933
refugee whose heroism has 
been immortalized in a Netflix 
movie called "The Swimmers."

12
00:01:00,966 --> 00:01:04,100
SARAH MARDINI, Syrian Refugee: 
I was arrested because I was 
giving water and blankets.

13
00:01:06,100 --> 00:01:10,633
ACTOR: He says he can get 
on a boat to Greece. There's 
no more room on the boat.

14
00:01:12,033 --> 00:01:14,733
MALCOLM BRABANT: The 
film shows how Sarah and

15
00:01:14,733 --> 00:01:19,233
her sister swam through 
the night to pull their 
refugee dinghy to Lesbos.

16
00:01:21,233 --> 00:01:25,400
Later, Sarah became a volunteer 
on the island and spent four 
months in jail after her arrest.

17
00:01:27,866 --> 00:01:30,766
SARAH MARDINI: I survived 
the war, and I survived 
the crossing with the 
water. And I was completely

18
00:01:32,766 --> 00:01:36,433
fine. And just because of this 
situation, I just lost control 
of myself and my mental health.

19
00:01:38,366 --> 00:01:42,033
MALCOLM BRABANT: Sarah 
didn't attend the hearing 
in Lesbos, but Sean Binder,

20
00:01:42,033 --> 00:01:47,000
her former colleague, did. 
The charge sheet includes 
espionage, forgery,

21
00:01:48,966 --> 00:01:51,966
people smuggling, money 
laundering and belonging 
to a criminal organization.

22
00:01:51,966 --> 00:01:56,633
Can you just describe 
to me what you think of 
the charges against you?

23
00:01:56,633 --> 00:01:59,266
SEAN BINDER, Free 
Humanitarians: I think, in 
a word, they're farcical.

24
00:01:59,266 --> 00:02:03,200
There's this idea that I 
am some naive utopian who 
doesn't understand how 
the world works. And I'm

25
00:02:05,666 --> 00:02:09,333
told that I should have 
just followed the law. 
Well, that's exactly 
what I'm doing. What does

26
00:02:09,333 --> 00:02:13,166
the European Convention 
of Human Rights say about 
the right to life? It 
says, we must protect it.

27
00:02:13,166 --> 00:02:15,166
MALCOLM BRABANT: Can I ask why 
you have decided to go back to

28
00:02:15,166 --> 00:02:17,900
Greece for the trial? Because 
you face a long term in jail.

29
00:02:17,900 --> 00:02:19,966
SEAN BINDER: That's right. I 
face 20 years' imprisonment.

30
00:02:19,966 --> 00:02:24,800
It is important that we stand up 
to these kinds of prosecutions, 
these cynical prosecutions.

31
00:02:26,700 --> 00:02:30,633
MALCOLM BRABANT: Prosecutors 
are also gunning for 
Panayote Dimitras, one of

32
00:02:30,633 --> 00:02:35,633
Greece's most prominent 
human rights activists 
and a fierce critic of 
Europe's refugee policies.

33
00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:40,800
PANAYOTE DIMITRAS, Greek 
Helsinki Monitor: The West 
fears refugees, and they are

34
00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:45,700
willing to do anything, because 
they have no respect for human 
rights, to stop that flow.

35
00:02:45,700 --> 00:02:49,033
And if the victims are 
refugees turned back,

36
00:02:49,033 --> 00:02:53,666
refugees killed, drowned, NGOs 
being harassed, they don't care.

37
00:02:53,666 --> 00:02:58,633
MALCOLM BRABANT: The 
"NewsHour" met Dimitras met 
during a 2021 investigation 
on the island of Samos

38
00:03:00,700 --> 00:03:04,500
into the case of a Central 
African refugee who was pushed 
back after landing in Greece.

39
00:03:05,900 --> 00:03:09,333
This Turkish drone footage 
appears to capture a pushback,

40
00:03:11,300 --> 00:03:15,000
as a Greek ship casts adrift 
asylum seekers towards 
Turkish territorial waters.

41
00:03:16,866 --> 00:03:21,366
Greece's Supreme Court 
has received dozens of 
lawsuits from Dimitras about

42
00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:26,466
such incidents. Now he's been 
accused of people smuggling and 
forming a criminal organization.

43
00:03:28,100 --> 00:03:29,900
What do you think the 
Greek authorities are 
trying to do to you?

44
00:03:29,900 --> 00:03:34,000
PANAYOTE DIMITRAS: The main 
cause is retaliation. They

45
00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:38,800
want to punish me and 
also to prevent me from 
continuing this kind of work,

46
00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:43,800
so as to have a free hand 
and a warning to all other 
humanitarian workers: 
Stay away from that.

47
00:03:46,933 --> 00:03:50,133
MALCOLM BRABANT: Identical 
charges have been filed 
against Tommy Olsen.

48
00:03:50,133 --> 00:03:55,000
He runs the Aegean Boat 
Report Web site that 
monitors refugee traffic.

49
00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:00,733
Although Olsen is based 
in Northern Norway, asylum 
seekers frequently ask 
for his help while at sea.

50
00:04:02,666 --> 00:04:06,300
MAN: No water. Not enough. 
He will die with the 
baby and he will happy.

51
00:04:06,300 --> 00:04:10,800
MALCOLM BRABANT: Following 
the slew of prosecutions, 
the U.N. and E.U. are

52
00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:15,800
calling on Greece to allow 
humanitarians to work free 
from fear of legal action.

53
00:04:17,766 --> 00:04:21,933
Greece's location makes 
it a magnet for asylum 
seekers. It's coast guards

54
00:04:21,933 --> 00:04:26,933
have saved thousands of 
lives since the refugee 
crisis began in 2015.

55
00:04:29,300 --> 00:04:32,333
But the government 
is exasperated by the 
refusal of other Europeans 
to share its burden.

56
00:04:34,766 --> 00:04:38,833
Out at sea, Greece is 
embroiled in the propaganda 
war with Turkey, which 
has been paid billions by

57
00:04:40,766 --> 00:04:44,633
Europe to stem the migrant 
flow. This Greek video shows a 
Turkish vessel destabilizing an

58
00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:51,300
asylum seeker's raft. Turkey's 
coast guard responds with 
images of alleged pushbacks.

59
00:04:52,666 --> 00:04:55,433
Greece's Prime Minister 
Kyriakos Mitsotakis:

60
00:04:55,433 --> 00:04:59,800
KYRIAKOS MITSOTAKIS, Greek Prime 
Minister: We are intercepting 
boats that come from Turkey,

61
00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:04,800
as we have the right to do. 
This is our policy. We will 
stand by it, and I will

62
00:05:07,266 --> 00:05:10,800
not accept anyone pointing 
the finger to this 
government and accusing 
it of inhumane behavior.

63
00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:15,933
MALCOLM BRABANT: 
According to the Aegean 
Boat Report, more than

64
00:05:17,433 --> 00:05:20,933
26,000 people were 
pushed back by the Greek 
authorities in 2022.

65
00:05:23,366 --> 00:05:26,700
As a result, some smugglers 
send overcrowded boats 
from Turkey to Italy, 
bypassing Southern Greece.

66
00:05:29,866 --> 00:05:34,866
In rough seas last October, 
a vessel carrying 100 
people struck rocks of

67
00:05:36,833 --> 00:05:40,433
the island of Cythera. At least 
five drowned. Survivors were 
hauled up a sheer cliff face.

68
00:05:42,933 --> 00:05:47,700
Search-and-rescue volunteers 
have been frightened away from 
Greek islands by prosecutions.

69
00:05:49,233 --> 00:05:52,233
And the hearing in 
Lesbos has done nothing 
to change the climate.

70
00:05:54,566 --> 00:05:57,800
Charges of spying and 
other misdemeanors 
were shelved because of 
technicalities. But serious

71
00:05:59,766 --> 00:06:03,400
felony allegations are 
still hanging over Sean 
Binder and his colleagues.

72
00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:07,666
SEAN BINDER: All we 
want is justice. We want 
this to go to trial.

73
00:06:09,066 --> 00:06:11,366
And it doesn't seem like that 
will happen anytime soon.

74
00:06:11,366 --> 00:06:13,133
MALCOLM BRABANT: The 
nonprofits insists

75
00:06:13,133 --> 00:06:16,766
they aren't the pull factor that 
lures asylum seekers to Greece.

76
00:06:16,766 --> 00:06:21,600
SARAH MARDINI: The 
refugees are not coming 
from me. They want safety. 
They're not coming to take

77
00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:25,500
your jobs. They're not 
coming to take your money. 
They're not taking -- to 
take your life. They want

78
00:06:25,500 --> 00:06:30,400
safety. They want to just 
sleep a bed and not hear a war 
happening outside of the window.

79
00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:33,533
MALCOLM BRABANT: The key 
question is, how will 
the Greek government

80
00:06:33,533 --> 00:06:38,533
respond to the U.N. and 
E.U. demands, compliance 
or defiance? Either way,

81
00:06:40,366 --> 00:06:43,533
the migrants will 
keep coming, risking 
everything in the process.

82
00:06:43,533 --> 00:06:46,300
For the "PBS NewsHour," 
I'm Malcolm Brabant.