Migrant Driftbacks in the Aegean Sea

The Investigations Lab’s Amnesty International Digital Verification Corps team worked with Forensic Architecture to geolocate and verify incidents of migrant driftbacks, described as when migrants and refugees crossing the Aegean Sea are “intercepted within Greek territorial waters, or arrested after they arrive on Greek shores, beaten, stripped of their possessions, and then forcefully loaded onto life rafts with no engine and left to drift back to the Turkish coast (Forensic Architecture).”

Students were tasked with:

• Cross checking the dates, times, and boat unit numbers provided by Forensic Architecture and the Aegean Boat Report with available media on refugees arriving at the Turkish border and being sent back towards Greece. 
• Geolocating available media on refugees arriving at the Turkish border and being sent back towards Greece.