A controversy that comes at the wrong time. Two days before the legislative elections in Greece, Athens was under pressure on Friday after the publication of a video and testimonies accusing the Greek authorities of turning back migrants, including children, in Turkish territorial waters. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights called for an “independent and effective investigation” following these “disturbing images and videos” published by the American daily new york times (NYT).
In this video shot by a human rights activist on the Greek island of Lesvos in the Aegean Sea in April, a group of migrants, including a baby, are driven in a white van to the southern tip of the island. Embarked on board a small boat, they are then transferred to a Greek coast guard boat before being abandoned on “a drifting black inflatable life raft”, according to the NYT. Turkish coastguard boats then rescued them. THE New York Times claimed to have located the migrants in a detention center in Izmir where they told reporters about their odyssey. Contacted by AFP, the Greek Ministry of Migration did not want to comment on this information.
Severe turn of the screw in terms of migration policy
“We remain gravely concerned by the continued and systematic pushbacks at the border between Greece and Turkey,” said the spokesperson for the High Commission, Ravina Shamdasani, recalling that these practices violate “the right to seek protection in under international law”. The Greek authorities have already been accused on several occasions of practicing illegal deportations to Turkey of people seeking asylum in the European Union.
The government of conservative Kyriakos Mitsotakis has always denied resorting to such practices despite numerous testimonies and videos collected by refugee aid NGOs and several international media. Mr. Mitsotakis, who is seeking a second term after Sunday’s legislative election, has prompted a severe tightening of migration policy over the past four years. Among his election promises is the extension of a 5m high metal fence along the land border with Turkey. Already 37.5 km long, Athens aims to extend it by 100 km by 2026.
