30 April 2014
A report entitled “Greece: Frontier of hope and fear” published this week by Amnesty International contains new evidence of migrants and refugees being pushed back at the Greek-Turkish border. Amnesty International criticises Greece’s persistent denial of the routine and widespread nature of these pushbacks and calls on the EU to initiate infringement proceedings against Greece for human rights violations, and suspend its cooperation with and funding of Greece’s border control operations until Greece can demonstrate that it has eradicated the practice of push backs at its borders.
68 of the 148 migrants and refugees interviewed by Amnesty between September 2012 and April 2014 said they had been pushed back from Greece to Turkey, sometimes more than once. Most refugees and migrants also said that they had experienced or witnessed physical violence and intimidation by Greek police officers and coastguards. Many told Amnesty they had been beaten, on board of coastguard ships and held at gunpoint.
‘’The police ordered us out of the vans, they were swearing at us and pushing… They handed us over to people wearing black hoods and black or dark blue uniforms. They [the men in hoods] took our money and passports. Then, in groups, took us in small boats over to the Turkish side with nothing but our clothes left on us,” a girl fleeing the war in Syria told Amnesty.
“Greece is a frontier state of fortress Europe, and while states have the prerogative to control their borders, this must never be at the expense of the lives and safety of those desperately seeking protection or simply a better life,” stated John Dalhuisen, Amnesty’s Europe and Central Asia Programme Director.
- 04.2014
2014 #HelpSyriasRefugees Campaign, Filmed testimony of Azmi’s journey by sea from Egypt to Italy and the situation of his family back in Egypt - 04.2014
ECRE Weekly Bulletin, Amnesty International: migrants and refugees trying to reach the EU pushed back at the Greece-Turkey border - 08.11.2013
ECRE Weekly Bulletin, Pro Asyl accuses Greece of systematically pushing back refugees at the Greek-Turkish border - 15.11.2013
ECRE Weekly Bulletin, UNHCR seeks clarification about Greece’s treatment of refugees from Syria - 20.12.2013
ECRE Weekly Bulletin, Op-Ed by Nils Muižnieks, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights: Syrian refugees: a neglected human rights crisis in Europe, 20 December 2013CRE Weekly Bulletin, Pro Asyl accuses Greece of systematically pushing back refugees at the Greek-Turkish border - www.helpsyriasrefugees.eu
This article originally appeared in the ECRE Weekly Bulletin of 30 April 2014
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