Twenty-nine human rights and humanitarian aid organizations called on the Greek Parliament on Tuesday to establish an inquiry into all allegations of unlawful returns of migrants to Turkey by law enforcement officers and other authorities.
In an open letter, the groups allege that these returns are carried out mainly through pushbacks and collective expulsions and are often accompanied by violence.
The Parliamentary inquiry should examine whether any illegal acts identified are part of a de facto government policy at odds with international, European, and Greek law, the groups say.
They allege that reports from 2020 recorded multiple incidents in which Greek Coast Guard personnel, sometimes accompanied by armed masked men in dark clothing, unlawfully abandoned migrants – including those who had reached Greek territory.
They abandoned the migrants at sea, on inflatable vessels without motors; towed migrant boats to Turkish waters; or intercepted, attacked, and disabled boats carrying migrants, the groups charge.
“Despite government denials, over the years many witnesses and victims have told us about pushbacks from land and sea that put migrants’ lives at risk,” said Eva Cossé, Greece researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Parliament should step up now and do all it can to put an end to this life-threatening practice.”
The open letter is signed be the following 29 groups:
Human Rights Watch
ActionAid Hellas
Amnesty International
ARSIS – Association for the Social Support of Youth
Danish Refugee Council
Equal Rights Beyond Borders
Fenix – Humanitarian Legal Aid
Greek Council for Refugees
Greek Forum of Refugees
Greek Helsinki Monitor
Hellenic League for Human Rights
Help Refugees
HIAS Greece
HumanRights360
International Rescue Committee
INTERSOS Hellas
Josoor
Legal Centre Lesvos
Lesvos Solidarity
Medecins Du Monde – Greece
Mobile Info Team
Network for Children’s Rights
PRAKSIS
Refugee Legal Support
Refugee Rights Europe
Refugees International
Refugee Support Aegean
SolidarityNow
Terre des hommes Hellas