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NICK SCHIFRIN: The E.U.
says the number of migrants
entering Europe last year hit

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a six-year high to well over
100,000. That is a 50 percent
increase over the previous year.

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But Greece has been
prosecuting the humanitarian
workers who try to save

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asylum seekers at sea.
And the U.N. and the E.U.
say those prosecutions

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are having a chilling effect.
Now a court case could
prolong migrants' uncertainty.

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Here's special correspondent
Malcolm Brabant.

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MALCOLM BRABANT: Slogans
outside a court on the
Greek island of Lesbos

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encapsulate concerns of
the U.N. and E.U.'s human
rights commissioners.

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They're appalled that 24
search-and-rescue volunteers
face long jail sentences for

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trying to save lives. The
best known defendant is
Sarah Mardini, a Syrian

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refugee whose heroism has
been immortalized in a Netflix
movie called "The Swimmers."

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SARAH MARDINI, Syrian Refugee:
I was arrested because I was
giving water and blankets.

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ACTOR: He says he can get
on a boat to Greece. There's
no more room on the boat.

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MALCOLM BRABANT: The
film shows how Sarah and

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her sister swam through
the night to pull their
refugee dinghy to Lesbos.

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Later, Sarah became a volunteer
on the island and spent four
months in jail after her arrest.

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SARAH MARDINI: I survived
the war, and I survived
the crossing with the
water. And I was completely

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fine. And just because of this
situation, I just lost control
of myself and my mental health.

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MALCOLM BRABANT: Sarah
didn't attend the hearing
in Lesbos, but Sean Binder,

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her former colleague, did.
The charge sheet includes
espionage, forgery,

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people smuggling, money
laundering and belonging
to a criminal organization.

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Can you just describe
to me what you think of
the charges against you?

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SEAN BINDER, Free
Humanitarians: I think, in
a word, they're farcical.

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There's this idea that I
am some naive utopian who
doesn't understand how
the world works. And I'm

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told that I should have
just followed the law.
Well, that's exactly
what I'm doing. What does

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the European Convention
of Human Rights say about
the right to life? It
says, we must protect it.

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MALCOLM BRABANT: Can I ask why
you have decided to go back to

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Greece for the trial? Because
you face a long term in jail.

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SEAN BINDER: That's right. I
face 20 years' imprisonment.

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It is important that we stand up
to these kinds of prosecutions,
these cynical prosecutions.

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MALCOLM BRABANT: Prosecutors
are also gunning for
Panayote Dimitras, one of

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Greece's most prominent
human rights activists
and a fierce critic of
Europe's refugee policies.

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PANAYOTE DIMITRAS, Greek
Helsinki Monitor: The West
fears refugees, and they are

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willing to do anything, because
they have no respect for human
rights, to stop that flow.

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And if the victims are
refugees turned back,

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refugees killed, drowned, NGOs
being harassed, they don't care.

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MALCOLM BRABANT: The
"NewsHour" met Dimitras met
during a 2021 investigation
on the island of Samos

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into the case of a Central
African refugee who was pushed
back after landing in Greece.

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This Turkish drone footage
appears to capture a pushback,

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as a Greek ship casts adrift
asylum seekers towards
Turkish territorial waters.

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Greece's Supreme Court
has received dozens of
lawsuits from Dimitras about

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such incidents. Now he's been
accused of people smuggling and
forming a criminal organization.

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What do you think the
Greek authorities are
trying to do to you?

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PANAYOTE DIMITRAS: The main
cause is retaliation. They

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want to punish me and
also to prevent me from
continuing this kind of work,

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so as to have a free hand
and a warning to all other
humanitarian workers:
Stay away from that.

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MALCOLM BRABANT: Identical
charges have been filed
against Tommy Olsen.

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He runs the Aegean Boat
Report Web site that
monitors refugee traffic.

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Although Olsen is based
in Northern Norway, asylum
seekers frequently ask
for his help while at sea.

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MAN: No water. Not enough.
He will die with the
baby and he will happy.

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MALCOLM BRABANT: Following
the slew of prosecutions,
the U.N. and E.U. are

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calling on Greece to allow
humanitarians to work free
from fear of legal action.

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Greece's location makes
it a magnet for asylum
seekers. It's coast guards

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have saved thousands of
lives since the refugee
crisis began in 2015.

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But the government
is exasperated by the
refusal of other Europeans
to share its burden.

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Out at sea, Greece is
embroiled in the propaganda
war with Turkey, which
has been paid billions by

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Europe to stem the migrant
flow. This Greek video shows a
Turkish vessel destabilizing an

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asylum seeker's raft. Turkey's
coast guard responds with
images of alleged pushbacks.

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Greece's Prime Minister
Kyriakos Mitsotakis:

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KYRIAKOS MITSOTAKIS, Greek Prime
Minister: We are intercepting
boats that come from Turkey,

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as we have the right to do.
This is our policy. We will
stand by it, and I will

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not accept anyone pointing
the finger to this
government and accusing
it of inhumane behavior.

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MALCOLM BRABANT:
According to the Aegean
Boat Report, more than

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26,000 people were
pushed back by the Greek
authorities in 2022.

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As a result, some smugglers
send overcrowded boats
from Turkey to Italy,
bypassing Southern Greece.

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In rough seas last October,
a vessel carrying 100
people struck rocks of

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the island of Cythera. At least
five drowned. Survivors were
hauled up a sheer cliff face.

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Search-and-rescue volunteers
have been frightened away from
Greek islands by prosecutions.

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And the hearing in
Lesbos has done nothing
to change the climate.

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Charges of spying and
other misdemeanors
were shelved because of
technicalities. But serious

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felony allegations are
still hanging over Sean
Binder and his colleagues.

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SEAN BINDER: All we
want is justice. We want
this to go to trial.

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And it doesn't seem like that
will happen anytime soon.

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MALCOLM BRABANT: The
nonprofits insists

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they aren't the pull factor that
lures asylum seekers to Greece.

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SARAH MARDINI: The
refugees are not coming
from me. They want safety.
They're not coming to take

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your jobs. They're not
coming to take your money.
They're not taking -- to
take your life. They want

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safety. They want to just
sleep a bed and not hear a war
happening outside of the window.

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MALCOLM BRABANT: The key
question is, how will
the Greek government

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respond to the U.N. and
E.U. demands, compliance
or defiance? Either way,

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the migrants will
keep coming, risking
everything in the process.

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For the "PBS NewsHour,"
I'm Malcolm Brabant.