A reconstruction of a man landing in the Mediterranean Sea (Photo: BBC/Ben Steele) The Adriana. Photo: BBC / open licence / Frontex / EU agency Abdelrahman was one of the 109 migrants who survived when the boat carrying them capsized. Photo: BBC/Ben Steele Dimitris Baltakos, Former Head Maritime Special Operations (Photo: BBC Public Service, Ben Steele) On a hill overlooking a secluded jetty in Greece, Fayed Mulla, one of several journalists who feature in Ben Steele’s disturbing documentary Dead Calm: Killing in the Med? (BBC2, Monday, June 17), sets up his two cameras, then settles down to wait.
He’s there to find proof that the stories he’s been hearing are true. At the strange, sad juncture our world finds itself right now, if something is not recorded on video, many people will refuse to believe it ever happened. Fayed doesn’t have to wait long.
A speedboat arrives at the jetty. On board are men dressed all in black and wearing balaclavas. Then a white van arrives.
More masked men in black, this time unloading a group of migrants, including two babies. The refugees are herded onto the speedboat, which then heads to a larger vessel waiting nearby. The van, having delivered its “cargo”, drives away.
The masked men in black could be smugglers, people traffickers. But they’re not; they’re Greek special forces members and the vessel they deliver the migrants to belongs to the Hellenic Coast Guard (HCG). Abdelrahman was one of the 109 migrants who survived when.
