Greek authorities have been under fire for brutally deporting hundreds of asylum seekers to Turkey.
A report by Amnesty International affirmed that the refugees were subjected to torture and ill-treatment before being transferred back to Turkey.
Titled “Greece: Violence, lies, and pushbacks”, the report documented cases of pushbacks, on land and at sea, sometimes involving people apprehended as far as 700 kilometres within Greek territory.
“Our research shows that violent pushbacks have become the de facto Greek border control policy in the Evros region,” said Adriana Tidona, migration researcher for Europe at Amnesty.
“It is clear that multiple arms of the Greek authorities are closely coordinating to brutally apprehend and detain people who are seeking safety in Greece, subjecting many to violence, then transferring them to the banks of the Evros river before summarily returning them to Turkey.”
The report concluded by calling on the European Commission to launch infringement proceedings against Greece “for its violation of EU asylum and fundamental rights law.”
It is worth mentioning that denying people their right to apply for asylum is illegal under EU law and refugee treaties.
