Syrian Swimmer Sara Mardini Arrested in Greece for Aiding Refugees

Sara Mardini, who gained international fame for helping pull a boat full of Syrian refugees to shore alongside sister and 2016 Olympian Yusra Mardini, was arrested by Greek authorities on Tuesday, August 28th, for aiding refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos.

Mardini was arrested alongside Greek national Nassos Karakitsos and Irish volunteer Seán Binder, all three of whom are volunteers of Emergency Response Centre International (ERCI), a Greek non-profit non-governmental organization (NGO). Mardini is currently being held in a prison outside of Athens.

Irish national Seán Binder faces up to 20 years in Greek prison on charges of human trafficking, espionage, money laundering, and being a member of a criminal organization. Mardini is being charged with the same crimes, though it is not clear whether Greek authorities will seek the same sentence. Binder, who is a search and rescue first responder with ERCI, states in his LinkedIn profile that he assists in search and rescue operations on Lesbos and that he provides aide to asylum-seekers arriving to the EU.

In all, a total of 30 Greek and foreign nationals were arrested by Greek authorities on August 21st for allegedly belonging to a criminal organization directly responsible for aiding migrant smugglers for financial gain. Greek authorities further accuse Mardini and the ECRI of breaching immigration laws, money laundering, espionage, and forgery.

A Greek lawyer representing German-based Mardini, who currently studies on scholarship at Bard College in Berlin, maintains that the Syrian expat was only doing volunteer work on Lesbos for the ERCI. Contrarily, Greek authorities allege that members of the ERCI have been in contact with migrants on social media in an effort to “actively assist” their illegal entry into Greece since 2015.

A Greek police statement described the ERCI and its members actions as: “The activities of an organised criminal network that systematically facilitated the illegal entry of foreigners were fully exposed.”

It has also been alleged that Mardini and other members of the ERCI monitored Greek Coastguard and EU border agency Frontex radio traffic in an effort to keep track of migrants’ movements. Sven Spannekrebs, the German swim coach to both Mardini sisters, doubts the claim that Mardini and co. illegally listened in on radio conversations, stating that “[the] channels that the (ERCI) radios had access to are open to anyone to listen,” despite that Frontex–the European Border and Coast Guard Agency–and the Greek Coastguard use encrypted channels.

Florian Becker, a managing director of Bard College in Berlin, said: “We are in close contact with Sara’s legal counsel and these clearly unsubstantiated charges seem more about halting the operations of the NGO in question than about any actions of Sara or her fellow volunteer,” reports The Telegraph.

Since 2015 Lesbos has become a hub for migrants fleeing the Middle East and Syria in particular. At present, Lesbos has upwards of 10,000 refugees awaiting asylum in Greece and other European countries.

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Anonymous
6 years ago

How sad that the Orange’s ideas of wall is contagious around the world.

Yozhik
Reply to  Anonymous
6 years ago

Blame it on Chinese. This idea of natural or artificial barriers is thousands years old. BTW, do you have a fence around your backyard? Or you are living in the gated community so no individual fences are needed and there is no need to have doors of your home locked.

Philip Johnson
6 years ago

Are the rich middle eastern countries, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar accepting refugees?

TGSNT
Reply to  Philip Johnson
6 years ago

Is Israel accepting refugees? They seem to be doing a great job displacing Palestinian families

Dee
Reply to  TGSNT
6 years ago

Wondered how long it would take!

beachmouse
Reply to  Philip Johnson
6 years ago

Jordan, like it always does, is stepping up and helping above its weight class without sufficient outside support from the rest of the world.

Dee
Reply to  beachmouse
6 years ago

Shame their conscience doesn’t extend to Yemeni’s whom they have been bombing with Saudi Arabia.

Tm71
6 years ago

No reason to put this article at all on swim swam, as it has practically nothing to do with swimming. I am originally Greek so I know a lot about the situation there. I have very few if anything positive to say about the administration headed by Alexi Tsipras but this one of the few things they got right. Ask any local and they will tell u about how a great historical island like lesbos has become an unlivable disaster!

Captain Awesome
Reply to  Tm71
6 years ago

I wonder how unlivable Lesbos is compared to places like Syria and Libya…

ERVINFORTHEWIN
Reply to  Captain Awesome
6 years ago

a different kind but unlivable nonetheless

Tm71
Reply to  Captain Awesome
6 years ago

Between the time the island was annexed back to Greece from the ottomans and until very recently very much very livable and majestic like most of the Greek isles that is why tourists flock to them ever summer. So for the island to be like this it is unlivable for the natives!

FloridaSwimmer
Reply to  Tm71
6 years ago

The only reason it was relevant was that a swimmer was involved.

Meeeeeee
6 years ago

Climate refuges.? Wow!

Dee
6 years ago

As a devils advocate to previous commentators, there have been numerous reports or criminal gangs and humanutarian groups working together in the Eastern Med to shuttle refugees safely across to Europe. It may well be that these people had been linked to one of the many criminal gangs taking advantage of refugees.

The line “aiding migrant smugglers” jumps out at me. Not all those assisting refugees are doing it for humanitarian reasons, and should humanitarian workers get mixed up with them, they will be view as part of the said gang.

Yozhik
Reply to  Dee
6 years ago

Like mexican “Coyote” – an underground criminal enterprise that smuggles men, women and children into the United States for hard cash. There were many cases when they killed their clients after getting paid.

Caleb
Reply to  Dee
6 years ago

This is an established non-profit organization with a public profile and long track record. Your argument – as “devil’s adcocate,” or whatever – is deeply immoral. It wouldn’t be at all surprising if some of the refugees started their journey in the hands of smugglers. If a humanitarian then assists them, is the humanitarian “mixed up” with the smugglers? Are they culpable in the same way? This is the same depraved logic that led to prosecutions of a group that provided water for border-crossers in the American desert. I can’t tell whether the ECRI broke any laws in providing aid or assistance, but charging them as if they were the mafia is clearly against the spirit of the law. Or… Read more »

Im going to catch tomorrow now
6 years ago

Famine in Yemen is probably worse. Not to trivialize this, which is super terrible, just saying this is the one that the US is following.

ERVINFORTHEWIN
Reply to  Im going to catch tomorrow now
6 years ago

both are on the top list of Major crisis

Jmanswimfan
6 years ago

Shame on Greece

Yozhik
Reply to  Jmanswimfan
6 years ago

You are probably know nothing about this case besides this article in Swimswam, but are so fast already to shame the entire nation.

Jmanswimfan
Reply to  Yozhik
6 years ago

I don’t think smuggling in migrants is wrong, I think not allowing migrants in is.

Yozhik
Reply to  Jmanswimfan
6 years ago

mi·grant
[ˈmīɡrənt]
NOUN
1. a person who moves from one place to another, especially in order to find work or better living conditions.
2. an animal that migrates.
ADJECTIVE
tending to migrate or having migrated.
“migrant birds”

Jmanswimfan
Reply to  Yozhik
6 years ago

Thanks for providing the definition for potentially confused people

Meeeeeee
Reply to  Jmanswimfan
6 years ago

Let em stay at your house

Yozhik
Reply to  Meeeeeee
6 years ago

I think that human race will survive. Can you imagine the territory of United States being covered by 2 miles high ice shield just 10 thousand years ago? It is so close. Pyramids of Giza are 5 thousand years old.
Moral norms is completely different issue and there will be never a consensus.

Yozhik
Reply to  Yozhik
6 years ago

@ STEVE NOLAN: I don’t know what to say. I really don’t. But even if I have something I won’t bring it here in Swimswam.
The notion of “the end of the world” is one of the ancient and the strongest belief in the history of humankind. I don’t know why.

Jmanswimfan
Reply to  Meeeeeee
6 years ago

Okay, can you pay their plane ticket to America? I’m doing something for you, only fair you do something for me.

Caleb
6 years ago

We’ll see what facts emerge, but on the surface, these charges are an obscenity – conflating a humanitarian organization with an organized crime syndicate. Unfortunately it seems that in many countries, “anything goes” when it comes to dissuading or blocking refugees.

Snarky
Reply to  Caleb
6 years ago

Agreed. Assisting an organization whose goal is strictly humanitarian becomes criminal? This is how fascism starts.

Joel Lin
Reply to  Caleb
6 years ago

Well put. Amen.

anonymous
Reply to  Caleb
6 years ago

Its a complex problem. Mainly countries should worked on making things better at home for these people. About 10 percent get into the west and the other 90 percent remain at home.

About Reid Carlson

Reid Carlson

Reid Carlson originally hails from Clay Center, Kansas, where he began swimming at age six with the Clay Center Tiger Sharks, a summer league team. At age 14 he began swimming club year-round with the Manhattan Marlins (Manhattan, KS), which took some convincing from his mother as he was very …

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