UNHCR is concerned about reports that Greece is forcing migrants back
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has expressed concern over a growing number of reports of “horrific incidents” against asylum seekers and migrants trying to enter Greece and other European countries but forcibly returning them to where they came from.
Athens has denied the allegations, saying UNHCR has succumbed to propaganda from neighboring Turkey, from which thousands of asylum seekers enter Greece each year.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi condemned the “increasing number of cases of violence and serious violations of the human rights of refugees and migrants at European borders”, in which several people lost their lives, and mentioned only Greece.
“We are alarmed by the constant and consistent reports coming from Greece's land and sea borders with Turkey, where the UNHCR has recorded almost 540 cases of informal evictions from Greece since the beginning of 2020,” Grandi said.
He added that three people have died since September 2021 in the Aegean Sea, when they were forcibly returned from Greek waters. He stated that the migrants were left on rafts in the middle of the sea, and some were thrown into the water, which is “reckless”, as well as that on the land border they were stripped naked some winter and driven to the other, Turkish side.
Turkey announced that 19 migrants were found dead from the cold on its land border with Greece, and accused the Greek authorities of taking away their clothes and shoes and forcing them to return to Turkey. Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitaraki said today that he was “surprised” by Grandi's statement.
“Greece protects the external borders of the European Union, in accordance with international law and with full respect for the Charter of Human Rights,” he said.
The minister said that it was very worrying that “Turkish propaganda and false news about illegal migration are often taken as facts”. Mitaraki accused Ankara of not respecting the agreement with the EU from 2016, the goal of which is to slow down illegal migration from Turkey to Greece.
“In the last seven years alone, Greece has been a safe haven for more than a million people,” he said.
About a million people entered Greece via Turkey in 2015, looking for a better life in a more developed part of Europe.
Greek authorities, with the help of EU partners, subsequently tightened border controls and erected a fence along the land border with Turkey.
Source: rs.n1info.com
