Refugees and
migrants trying to reach the European Union (EU) via Greece from
conflict-torn countries like Syria and Afghanistan are being
unlawfully returned to Turkey by Greek coast and border guards,
Amnesty International reveals in a new report out today.
The
40-page report intitulé Frontier
Europe: Human Rights Abuses on Greece's border with Turkey, examines
the Greek authorities’ dangerous use of ‘push backs’- when they
turn groups of migrants back across the border, denying them the
right to have their individual cases heard or to challenge their
expulsion.
The report also
highlights the dangers refugees and migrants face trying to cross
from Turkey to the Greek islands, and explores the appalling
detention conditions those who do make it are often held in.
Since March,
Amnesty International has spoken to nearly 30 people in Greece and
Turkey who, in at least 39 separate instances, have been stopped
trying to cross the Aegean or the northern land border between the
two countries along the river Evros.
Almost all of
them described how they had experienced or witnessed violence and/or
other ill-treatment by the Greek authorities. Many said guards had
taken their belongings, including money, family photos and heirlooms,
and in some cases thrown them into the sea.
“What’s
happening along the Greek border does not just shame Greece. It
shames the European Union as a whole,” said Jezerca Tigani, Amnesty
International’s Deputy Director for Europe and Central Asia.
“The number of
push back stories we collected is extremely alarming. It suggests
that the Greek authorities are employing this practice on a regular
basis, despite the fact that it is unlawful. And it is also extremely
dangerous - to the point where it puts people’s lives seriously at
risk.”
Testimonies
collected by Amnesty point to the blatant disregard for human life
shown by the Greek coastguard during these operations carried out in
the Aegean Sea. Thirteen of the 14 interviewees who described being
returned to Turkey said how their inflatable boats were rammed,
knifed, or nearly capsized while they were being towed or circled by
a Greek coastguard boat. They said their boats’ engines were
disabled and their oars removed, then they were just left in the
middle of the sea. Life-endangering practices were also reported by
people caught after crossing the river Evros.
The route across
the Aegean has become more popular since last year when authorities
built a 10.5 kilometre fence and deployed nearly 2,000 new border
guards along the border at the river Evros. But it is a dangerous
one. As well as the threat of push backs, since August last year more
than 100 people – including women and children and mostly Syrians
and Afghans - have drowned trying to reach Greece.
“As the
weather gets better and conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and
Somalia continue, we expect more people to attempt the journey and we
are likely to see more tragedies like these,” said Jezerca Tigani.
Those who do
make it to Greece are routinely detained in dark, dirty cells for
long periods. Many of the people Amnesty spoke to had spent nearly
nine months behind bars. Health problems are rife.
“The
conditions refugees and migrants are being held in are often
appalling. In fact, when we visited people in those cells it
was difficult to remember we were actually in the EU. Many of them
are fleeing conflict, poverty and hunger but too often they are being
held in dark, dirty, damp cells, with limited access to fresh air and
not enough food,” said Jezerca Tigani
“Some
detainees told us they had to call the police when they needed to use
the toilet as there were no toilets in their cells. They said their
calls were often not answered for hours so they had to urinate in
bottles. Others said their bedding had not been washed for months,
and that they had limited access to soap, shampoo or sanitary
towels,” she added.
Amnesty
International is calling on the Greek authorities to stop push backs
immediately and investigate allegations of collective expulsions and
ill-treatment, and to prosecute those involved. It wants all those
intercepted trying to cross borders to have their cases for
international protection heard fairly. It wants the Greek authorities
to end the indiscriminate and prolonged detention of irregular
migrants and asylum-seekers; and use alternatives to detention.
The EU has a
role to play too. It must support the Greek authorities by helping to
improve reception services instead of sealing off borders. The EU
should also explore new ways of sharing responsibility for refugees
and migrants.
“It is
obviously Greece’s prerogative to control its borders, but not at
the expense of the human rights of those trying to reach safety, or
looking for a better life, in Europe. These are difficult times in
Greece, and for millions across Europe, but there is no excuse for
how refugees and migrants are being treated,” said Jezerca Tigani.
“Other
EU Member States appear only too happy for Greece to act as their
gatekeeper. But the policies and practices along the Greek border
expose the bitter irony of European countries pressing for peace
abroad while denying asylum to and putting at risk the lives of those
seeking refuge in Europe. The EU must act now to stop these human
rights violations at its borders,” she said.
9
July
2013
