Masked men working with Greek authorities stole refugees' belongings before dumping them in the middle of the sea: New York Times

• Refugees told the NYT that men sent by Greek authorities robbed them and abandoned them at sea.
• The 12 refugees from Somalia, Eritrea, and Ethiopia were trying to seek asylum in Greece.

Masked men working with the Greek government rounded up refugees and stole their belongings before the group of 12, from Somalia, Eritrea, and Ethiopia, were abandoned on a dinghy in the middle of the sea, a New York Times investigation found.

The Times reported that 12 refugees, including infants and children, had taken a boat from Turkey to the isle of Lesbos in Greece, where they hoped to receive asylum.

The group told the Times that once they arrived in Greece on April 11, masked men ripped off their hijabs, took all their belongings, including cash and cell phones, and locked them in a van for hours.

They told the Times that they were then taken out to sea on a speed boat and transferred to a Greek Coast Guard vessel.

The Times reported that six individuals wearing dark blue uniforms escorted the group onto the Coast Guard vessel.

From there, the Coast Guard boat took the refugees to the edge of Greece's territorial waters and abandoned the group on a small inflatable raft that floated into Turkish territorial waters.

The group was eventually rescued by Turkish authorities and are now in a Turkish detention center while they wait to find out if they'll be granted asylum. The chances of asylum are very slim in Turkey, the Times reported.

Austrian aid worker Fayad Mulla shared a video of the ordeal with the Times, which verified the footage.

Greek authorities did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The New York Times. Greece's Ministry of Migration did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

"We didn't expect to survive on that day," Naima Hassan Aden, a 27-year-old from Somalia, told the Times. "When they were putting us on the inflatable raft, they did so without any mercy."