Uniformed men accost refugees, leave them adrift at sea

ISTANBUL -- Just off the Turkish coast Tuesday morning, 40 Syrians were crammed on a rubber dinghy, desperate to reach Europe.

On board was Tanya Ibrahim, a high school art teacher from Aleppo, her 3-year-old son, Mohammed Jan, and her husband Abdeqaden, who filmed their dangerous journey. We first met them in Turkey before they set out.

They fled Syria two years ago, after their home was bombed, but they told us there's no regular work for Syrians in Turkey,so they borrowed $2,000 to pay a smuggler.

Mohammed Jan, 3, hangs on to his mother aboard a crowded boat of Syrian refugees headed for Greece

 CBS NEWS

"We can't live in Syria, and we can't live here," Tanya told us. "For the sake of our son we need to leave."

The family gave CBS News permission to follow them as they tried to reach Greece. They had good luck to start, with fairly calm waters, though their boat was overcrowded.

Roughly five miles way from the Greek coastline, an unmarked speedboat arrived from Greek waters. Abdeqaden told us five men dressed in black pointed guns at them. He quickly hid his camera.

A vessel from Greece approaches a boat of refugees near the Greek coastline

 CBS NEWS

Then the men cut the fuel supply to their motor, leaving terrified men, women and children adrift in the open sea. We saw them do the same to five other boats.

It's unclear if the men were affiliated with the Greek Coast Guard. When CBS News contacted the Greek Coast Guard, they didn't admit that their men were responsible but wouldn't deny it either.

We've been told of several similar incidents in which the Greek Coast Guard allegedly sabotaged refugees' boats to prevent them from reaching Europe, and endangered the refugees' lives in doing so.

Eventually, the Turkish Coast Guard came to the rescue and we helped tow the boat to safety. Tanya and her family didn't make it to Greece Tuesday, but they're still alive and told us they'll try again -- as many times as it takes -- to reach Europe.