Greek authorities has persistently denied mistreatment of migrants

The European Commission has known as on Greece to start an investigation into studies of 12 migrants being allegedly deserted at sea by the Greek coast guard. The information was first reported by New York Times primarily based on video footage depicting the forcible expulsion of asylum seekers, together with a child, who had sought sanctuary within the nation. 

The group of migrants was later rescued by Turkish Coast Guard boats and is now in a Turkish detention middle. The probabilities of asylum are very slim in Turkey, the Times reported.

”My providers have despatched a proper request to Greek authorities that this incident be absolutely and independently investigated. It is important that correct follow-up is taken by Greek authorities, additionally primarily based on the brand new unbiased monitoring mechanism,” the European commissioner for migration, Ylva Johansson, mentioned on Twitter.

”The European Commission stands able to take formal steps, as acceptable,” she added.

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One yr in the past I met with the Greek Government @govgr to debate border administration and I made clear that there isn’t a place for unlawful deportations.
Last Friday, 19 May, The New York Times @nytimes offered a report on an alleged unlawful deportation, in April…

— Ylva Johansson (@YlvaJohansson) May 22, 2023

In the video shot on April 11, the refugees, described as Somalis, Eritreans, and Ethiopians, are proven being pushed in a white van to a distant spot on the Aegean island earlier than being pressured right into a high-speed inflatable boat. 

”We did not count on to outlive on that day. When they had been placing us on the inflatable raft, they did so with none mercy,” Naima Hassan Aden, a 27-year-old from Somalia informed The Guardian.

However, the Greek authorities has persistently denied the mistreatment of migrants reaching its land. Notably, it’s unlawful underneath home, EU, and worldwide legislation to disclaim migrants in search of asylum on the border. 

“For years, activists and journalists have dug into claims that the Greek authorities are illegally pushing migrants out of Greece’s borders, but hard evidence has been fragmentary. The government has consistently denied mistreating asylum seekers and points to the fact that it shoulders a disproportionate burden of managing new arrivals to Europe,”New York Times mentioned in an announcement.

”But the video, offered by an Austrian assist employee, Fayad Mulla, who has spent a lot of the previous two and a half years engaged on the island and attempting to doc abuses towards migrants, often is the most damning proof but of the Greek authorities’ violation of worldwide legal guidelines and E.U. guidelines governing how asylum seekers should be handled,” it added.