A surge of anti-refugee sentiment has arisen in Europe in recent months, especially in the aftermath of last week's Paris attacks. The Turkish Institute of Public Diplomacy released a video appearing to show a man from the Greek coast guard maliciously acting on this sentiment.
In the video, a member of the Greek coast guard apparently attempts to sink a boat full of refugees in the Aegean Sea crossing from Turkey to Greece. The man reaches over the rail of the vessel with a long lance and repeatedly pokes the small inflatable rubber boat, or dinghy. As the man pokes, passengers scream and some reach for the lance. The Greek boat then leaves the refugees on the sinking dinghy until the Turkish coast guard comes and rescues them. The video was reportedly recorded on November 12. Here it is below. Via YouTube.
A video released in August showed a similar incident just a few miles from the Greek islands of Kos and Lesbos. The refugees were left floating in the water before a fisherman came to their rescue.
In the biggest refugee crisis since World War II, violence has driven more than 50 million people from their homes in the Middle East and Africa. Over 11 million Syrians, or half the pre-war population, have either died or fled their homes, according to Mercy Corps.
According to the International Organization for Migration, over 3,100 refugees have died while attempting to cross the Aegean Sea in 2015.
