GREEK authorities have charged an asylum-seeker for endangering his six-year-old son’s life after he drowned when a boat they were using to cross from Turkey capsized.

The Afghan man could face a six-year prison sentence if found guilty in the first such case in the country.

After a dinghy carrying 25 migrants sank off Samos Island on November 8, the 25-year-old made it to shore and sought help. His son’s body was found the next morning. 

According to his lawyer a distress call went out to the coastguard at midnight but they only sent a vehicle to look for the body six hours later.

The lawyer told the BBC that police should investigate that delay rather than the actions of the father.

A coastguard spokesman said that the initial search did not find the vessel and that darkness had hindered their work.

Mr Choulis has called the charge “an almost unprecedented display of harshness, that skews the spirit of the law meant to protect minors.

“By this token, every single asylum-seeking parent who ever came with a minor should have faced similar charges,” he said. 

Last week, the father was taken handcuffed to identify the child and left being supported by coastguard officers in order not to collapse. 

He said that all he wants now is to be able to attend his son’s funeral.

Alarm Phone, an independent support group for people crossing the Mediterranean Sea to the EU, tweeted: “Charging a grieving father while systematically pushing back boats and intentionally risking lives. 

“Can it get anymore disgusting, cynical and cruel?”

Thousands of migrants have arrived in Greece from Turkey so far this year and more than 1,400 have landed on Samos alone, according to the United Nations.