Tilos: Video Shows Clash Between Mayor, Tourist Over Migrants

The latest instance of a mass arrival of third country migrants into Greek territory exploded over Greek-language social media this past week, replete with posted personal videos sparking an acrimonious and emotional debate in an incident recorded on video on the island of Tilos.

The incident occurred on the small and remote Dodecanese island of Tilos last week with the arrival of a Greek Coast Guard cutter to drop off 109 foreign nationals that were earlier picked up in a maritime region somewhere between the isle and the nearby Turkish coast, from where the group clandestinely set off.

The Turkish coastlines opposite islands in the eastern Aegean are often mustering points for traffickers attempting to smuggle migrants onto Greek territory.

A first video posted on social media by the isle’s mayor, Maria Kamma, shows her angrily rebuking another woman at the quay over the latter’s alleged displeasure with the arrival of the boatload of irregular migrants. While videotaping the other woman, identified on social media as “Rita Lombardo”, Kamma is heard saying:
“What do you want us to do, throw them back into the sea? She’s giving us lessons in humanity…That’s how Greeks are, the good Christians. Tilos, lady, isn’t a place for you,” the obviously annoyed office-holder said, adding before ending her recording with the phrase “Get going before I give you one, and you end up in the sea.”

In her response days later, the FB user, identified as Lombardo, who was clearly seen on the mobile phone video recorded by the isle’s mayor, posted her own version of the event and a video showing Kamma menacingly addressing her – calling the local official’s behavior “appalling”.

“Unfortunately for her, there are witnesses and testimonies from people that were there, that these were HER words.”

In her Facebook post, the woman underlined that:

“Yes, I was in the port fishing when I saw a huge coast guard vessel docking next to me. For a moment I said to myself…what’s going on? war? Then I see this crowd of 100 people coming down with headscarves (the women) and (men with) beards carrying their things; with cell phones in hand and completely dry; this is an utter relocation and not migration…And I wondered, is this why Greek pupils no longer say prayers in schools anymore?

“And since the lady in question was in front of me and seemed to be enjoying the sight with a big smile, I politely asked her where they were coming from and where they are going and how this small isle could accept so many people…THAT WAS IT… the woman became irate and started shouting hysterically, I thought she was going to assault me. ‘Do you know who I am’, she tells me. I say no, she says ‘I’m the mayor, but you didn’t tell us who you are’, she says. I introduced myself, told her my name and took out my cell phone to record the entire situation because I knew she wanted to make a scene. She then took out hers (mobile phone) and started indignantly lying, claiming I told her to throw them into the sea. I didn’t respond, I didn’t answer because I already knew I’d report her for her lies.”

Both women posted their videos on social media, with Kamma first, with the incident going viral.

In fact, one “fake news” dimension that was circulated over the weekend had the citizen at the port, Lombardo, reportedly employed by the Turkish embassy in Athens. The latter issued a stern denial on Sunday evening on its FB account.

Tilos was the scene of another high-profile incident involving irregular migrants, from Afghanistan, ferried from Turkey last month, when some media reports initially reproduced a claim that a 50-day-old infant stranded with his parents and others along a rocky and inaccessible coast survived for three days on milk powder mixed with sea water.