Greece is a hotspot for migrants that attempt to enter Europe. During Europe’s decade long refugee crises, Greece was Europe’s “shield” and accepted hundreds of thousands of migrants. Despite scarce resources and skimpy budgets the Greek state and individual Greeks were known for their compassion; but they no longer welcome migrants with open arms. Internally, Greece, like Italy, has suffered from a massive anti-immigrant backlash and the rise of extreme right wing political parties. Reports began in 2020 that document the brutal and inhumane treatment migrants face at the hands of Greek authorities. Amnesty International published a report with migrant testimony of illegal pushbacks to Turkey, robberies, and beatings that they faced at Greece’s border. In 2020, Greece increased militarization at their borders and announced their goal to reduce migrant arrivals. The pushbacks reaffirm the country’s commitment to keeping migrants out.
According to Amnesty International, the definition of a ‘pushback’ is the “unlawful, forcible, and sometimes violent transfer of refugees and migrants back across an international border without consideration of their individual circumstances.” Migrants have the legal right to challenge decisions that send them back, but pushbacks strip them of this right. The way that pushbacks are conducted can be violations themselves. The right to be free from torture and inhumane/ degrading treatments and punishments, and the right to liberty and security are often violated during pushbacks. Since Greece is a part of the European Union (EU) and a signatory of international and European human rights instruments, they are legally required to protect and respect the rights listed above.
In Amnesty International’s report, no one was asked by Greek authorities if they needed protection or migration status. A registered asylum seeker and recognized refugee were sent to Turkey, despite providing authorities with documentation to prove their statuses. Nabil, a Syrian seeking registered asylum-seeker in Greece, told Amnesty International that “Before I entered the bus, I showed the police my asylum card, but they took it from me, shredded it, and told me to get into the bus.” Pushbacks of registered asylum-seekers and refugees violate the 1951 Refugee Convention that relates to the EU law of prohibition of collective expulsions. People have the right to file for asylum. “All of the deportations were illegal under national and international human rights law,” the report states.
Greece’s use of pushbacks began in 2013. Amnesty International’s 2021 report documents 21 new cases that affected approximately 1,000 migrants. All pushbacks occurred at the Evros river, between Greece and Turkey. To Amnesty International’s dismay, the EU has failed to hold Greece accountable, which the organization views as permission for the practice. Greece has yet to conduct its own investigation into the matter, an “unconscionable” neglect according to Amnesty International.
Over the past few years, under the conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotaki, Greece has begun a harsh campaign to turn migrants away from Europe. In 2019 and 2020, legal amendments to migration and asylum laws left room for the widespread use of detention for return and asylum procedures, which is in violation of international and European standards. Pre-return detentions in Greece can now last up to 18 months, but this time excludes the detention time during asylum procedures. Because all detention cases documented by Amnesty International were outside the legal framework, “Amnesty International is of the opinion that all individuals concerned have been subject to arbitrary detention.”
At arrest, migrants comment that officers confiscated their phones, backpacks, and the belongings inside, clothing, and parents with young children turned over food, diapers, bottles, and formula milk. While detained, migrants face extreme abuse and humiliation. A Syrian couple told Amnesty International, “The last three guys were forced to be naked completely, without underwear, and were beaten very much with sticks and kicks and by hands. One of them…was wounded in his head… His whole body was covered with blood.” There are at least 10 cases of children, infants, and pregnant women who were detained by authorities and were not given access to essential health supplies.
The detention centers are described as unsanitary and overpopulated. “I got inside with mud all over my shorts and clothes I noticed it [the inside of the detention site] looked like a slave market of sorts […] there were about 7 detention rooms side by side, with maybe 10-15 [people] in each of them and there were beds in the rooms but they did not have any mattress on, just iron beds.”
Violence violates a person’s right not to be subjected to torture or degrading treatment and punishment. This right is protected under Articles 2 and 3 of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which Greece is a signatory to. Amnesty International published in their report that the “the acts of violence documented, as well as the use and execution of searches, violated the prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment and could have, in some cases, constituted torture.” The same tactics of abuse, humiliation, and robbery are also used on Greece’s land borders, which are major crossing points for Asian, Middle Eastern, and African migrants.
Azad, a Kurdish man from Turkey, tried to speak to the officer in charge while detained. He told Amnesty International that once spoke to the chief and asked for asylum, he was told, “‘this is my country, I don’t want you. Leave this place I don’t want to see any of you again.’” Greeks’ bitterness over their asylum count has risen over the past few years, especially since the country takes in more asylum seekers than other EU countries.
In February 2022, in one night, 50 migrants were sent back across the river to Turkey from Greece. It was a cold night with harsh rain and sharp winds. 19 migrants were found dead over the next two days. Their bodies were found under low cement wells on muddy roads, and beside a water pump that was seven miles north of waterlogged fields. A rescuer told the New York Times that the bodies were purple and cold. Some migrants died while attempting to take their clothes off—a common phenomenon of hypothermia.
Jaber Jan Singh, a migrant from India, told the New York Times, “With the weather conditions they should not have done that. This was to leave us to die.” Four migrants who survived this night reported to the NYT that they were left in the pouring rain with hardly any clothes. A 38-year-old man said that he was pushed into the Evros river by Greek authorities and forced to swim. He attempted to help others, but unfortunately many drowned. “We are not criminals. We just want to work.” At the river, migrants in groups of 8-10 are forced onto rubber dinghies and taken across the river in a pulley system.
The Greek Coast Guard is accused of sending migrants in flimsy rafts that lead to drownings before Turkish authorities can intercept. As of February 2022, at least three people have died in the Aegean Sea since September of 2021. The United Nations Refugee Agency released a statement last month, “We are alarmed by recurrent and consistent reports coming from Greece’s land and sea borders with Turkey, where UNHCR has recorded almost 540 reported incidents of informal returns by Greece since the beginning of 2020. Disturbing incidents are also reported in Central and South-eastern Europe at the borders with EU Member States.” The statement also condemns Greece’s approach, “At sea, people report being left adrift in life rafts or sometimes even forced directly into the water, showing a callous lack of regard for human life.”
Ntos Mitarachi, the Greek migration minister, said that the deaths were a tragedy, but denied that the migrants ever reached Greek soil. “These migrants never made it to the border. Any suggestion they did, or indeed were pushed back into Turkey, is utter nonsense.”
Philippe Leclerc, the head of the UN Refugee Agency in Turkey, says that the lack of coordination between Greece and Turkey is endangering migrants’ lives. “The first thing is to ensure there is management and cooperation on both sides to avoid the loss of life — that is the first imperative.”
One migrant gave a chilling recount of Greece’s cruelty to Amnesty International, “[The man] was screaming for help, was going under and back up; the soldiers and men on the boat just watched him doing nothing. The water took him away and we never saw him again.”
In Amnesty International’s report, the organization also accuses Turkey of violating the rights of refugees and migrants. Turkish officials also attempt pushbacks to Greece. There are also reports that authorities neglect to rescue people or allow them on shore in a timely manner. Even so, migrants report two different stories with Turkish authorities. Some experience the same grotesque treatment from Greece, or they are rescued and given food, water, and medical treatment.
A survivor of the harsh night in February summed up his experience to the NYT. “We know we were there illegally, but the government is not illegal, so they should not treat us illegally. They treated us in an illegal manner and because of that one of my friends is dead.”
