Greek forces push migrants back to Turkey violently, HRW says

Human Rights Watch has accused Greek law enforcement officers of violently pushing migrants and asylum-seekers aiming to reach the country back into Turkey in a report issued on 16 July.

The report relies on a number of interviews with migrants. One Palestinian migrant said:  “We drove for three hours but then they put us in a small boat. It was like a raft. It was inflatable and had no motor. […]  He added: “They left us in the sea alone. There was no food or water. They left us for two nights. We had children with us…” 

A 15-year-old unaccompanied girl from Syria said, “we were pushed in a horrible way and they pushed our bags in the sea.” She explained: “They took everything from us – our phones, our IDs, our bags … everything, apart from the clothes we were wearing. We were very scared. Some people were vomiting.”

TMP _ 24/7/2020

Photo credit: Kemal Aslan

Photo caption: Migrants wait to take a boat near Edirne while other migrants wait at Greece side, as they attempt to enter Greece by crossing the Maritsa river, on March 2020.