In his press briefing at UNOG, Babar Baloch, UNHCR spokesperson, called upon the Greek authorities to urgently investigate a series of alleged incidents at the country’s sea and land borders with Turkey. Specifically, Hellenic police and border guards were accused by non-governmental organizations and in eye-witness accounts that violence had been used against asylum seekers including the confiscation and destruction of their belongings, placing them in detention centres, applying tortures practices and frequently sending them back to Turkey on boats. These accusations are not new, as over the past three years alleged violent pushbacks at the border had been reported. However, the scale of alleged forced transfers from inner-city camps and detention spaces and expulsions appears to be unprecededented.
This situation started with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s opening of the border for migrants to enter Europe, claiming that Turkey could no longer handle the growing number of refugees fleeing the war in Syria. As a response, the Greek government increased its measures to protect the border swarning migrants not to attempt crossing into Greece. Moreover, on 1 March, it suspended for 30 days the possibility for anyone who crossed the border illegally to claim asylum. Although this measure was later lifted, all public services of the Greek Asylum Service were suspended, alleging that this was aimed to control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since the beginning of March, about 3,000 asylum seekers arrived in Greece by land and sea, which is significantly less than in the previous months or the same period in previous years. However, the violence at the border and violations of human rights rose at an alarming rate. Stating that Greece had a legitimate right to control its borders and manage irregular migration, Ms Baloch added this had to be done by respecting international human rights law and standards for the protection of refugees. Apparently, this not fulfilled , as the alleged behaviour of the Hellenic police and border guards would constitute violations of Greece’s international obligations in regard to the fundamental right to seek asylum and enable asylum seekers to access asylum procedures and ensure their protection against forced returns.
To learn more, please visit:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/01/world/europe/greece-migrants-border-turkey.html
https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/12/18/greece-violent-pushbacks-turkey-border
Author: Michele Pitta
