Nine people from ship hired by far-right group reportedly deported after being arrested for allegedly using false documents

The crew of a ship hired by a European far-right movement aiming to disrupt migrant rescues in the Mediterranean have reportedly been deported from Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus for alleged people-smuggling after 21 south Asians were found onboard.

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The crew of the C-Star were taken off the vessel at the port of Famagusta, and appeared in court on Thursday, alongside the ship’s Swiss owner.

They were accused of preparing and circulating false documents, but were later released for lack of evidence.

Faika Pasa, a local human rights activist, said nine crew members, including the captain and a German described as the “second captain”, had been arrested.



At least 20 Sri Lankan refugees were aboard the C-star as the vessel approached Famagusta, Pasa told the Guardian. The Sri Lankans disembarked told authorities they had been trainees aboard the ship and were allowed to continue on their journey, but then changed their story at the airport where Pasa and other activists met them.



“Some said they had paid €10,000 to smuggling rings to get on the ship and be taken to Italy,” she said. “Five have since requested asylum. The other 15 have now flown back to Sri Lanka.”

Sources told the Guardian that by nightfall all crew members had been deported. The Swiss owner of the vessel is believed to have been taken to the island’s Greek-controlled south, where he was expected to undergo further questioning. The other eight were described as having left the island on the C-star bound for an unknown destination.

In a statement posted on Twitter on Wednesday, Defend Europe, the vigilante sea mission created by Generation Identity, a movement of young people from across Europe opposed to Islam and immigration, said 20 of those onboard were apprentice sailors undergoing training.

Defend Europe (@DefendEuropeID) 🇬🇧++ Despite NGO's schemes, #DefendEurope continues ++ pic.twitter.com/GMqYz7jH8S

It alleged that as the “20 apprentice sailors” waited at the airport to return home, NGOs “offered them to stay in Europe and apply for asylum in exchange for promises and money”.

Fifteen refused to do so, the statement added, while five accepted the alleged bribes “and are now making false accusations against the owner of the ship”. It said the vessel had headed to Cyprus after it had been unable to dock in Egypt.



Authorities in Famagusta have refused to comment on the vessel’s seizure. A spokesman with the marine police department in the Republic of Cyprus told the Guardian that the ship’s crew had deactivated its antenna and automatic identification system.



“It was in Famagusta, but we don’t know if it is still there because we can’t locate it,” an officer said. “They have clearly turned off the system. Because it is in Turkish-occupied territory, we can’t do anything about it. We can’t go and find out more.”



The 40-metre (131ft) vessel, hired by the movement after it raised more than €75,000 (£67,000) through crowdfunding, left Djibouti in early July, planning to dock in Catania, Sicily, before setting sail for international waters close to Libya.



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But the plan was scuppered after the mayor of Catania, Enzo Bianco, last week urged the city’s port authorities to deny the ship docking rights.

C-Star was reportedly held in Egypt by the Suez Canal Authority on 20 July, before arriving in Famagusta the next day.

The group vowed to continue exposing what it claims is wrongdoing by “criminal NGO search and rescue vessels” once the investigation is over.

The activists have accused NGOs, which have saved thousands of lives in the Mediterranean, of working with people smugglers to transport migrants to Europe. Their mission also involves disrupting the work of the crews by calling the Libyan coastguard and asking them to take migrants and refugees attempting to cross the Mediterranean back to the war-torn country.

Members of the movement travelled to Catania last week ahead of the ship’s scuppered arrival. During that time they posed for selfies with the Mail Online columnist Katie Hopkins, who said she was on the island to uncover what she described as the “dark truth” of the migration crisis.

Over the past few days the group has been tracking the movements of NGO ships that have been rescuing people from overcrowded boats since 2015. The rightwing activists targeted the Aquarius, a ship chartered by the German-French organisation SOS Méditerranée, as it returned to the southern Sicilian port of Pozzallo from a rescue mission on Tuesday.

Generation Identity was established in France in 2002 and has attracted members, mostly in their 20s, from Germany, Austria, Italy and, more recently, the UK. Its mission is mainly driven by a fear of Islam and what the group sees as the negative consequences of mass migration to Europe.

“There are places across Europe … in France, in the UK … which are suffering the consequences of this already,” said Lorenzo Fiato, a 24-year-old political science graduate from Milan, who heads the movement’s Italy faction. “The Islamic religion risks provoking danger, disturbing public order, and upsetting social and cultural values. Natural Europeans are being substituted.”