{"id":4287,"date":"2020-10-06T14:39:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-06T14:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hardcore-hodgkin.138-201-31-57.plesk.page\/?p=4287"},"modified":"2024-08-02T14:41:14","modified_gmt":"2024-08-02T14:41:14","slug":"1526-anthropistikes-organoseis-askoyn-piesi-sti-vouli-gia-ti-dieksagogi-erevnas-gia-tis-epanaproothiseis-kai-ti-via-sta-synora","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gcr.gr\/en\/news\/item\/1526-anthropistikes-organoseis-askoyn-piesi-sti-vouli-gia-ti-dieksagogi-erevnas-gia-tis-epanaproothiseis-kai-ti-via-sta-synora\/","title":{"rendered":"Human rights and humanitarian aid organizations press Hellenic Parliament to open inquiry into allegations of pushbacks, and violence at borders"},"content":{"rendered":"

Greece: Investigate Pushbacks, Violence at Borders
Groups Press Parliament to Open Inquiry<\/em><\/strong>

(Athens, October 6, 2020) \u2013 Members of Greece\u2019s parliament should urgently establish an inquiry into all allegations of unlawful returns of migrants to Turkey by law enforcement officers and others, 29 human rights and humanitarian aid organizations said in an joint open letter<\/a> released today. These returns are carried out mainly through pushbacks and collective expulsions and are often accompanied by violence.

Parliament should exercise its oversight authority to investigate the allegations of these illegal acts by state agents and proxies on Greece\u2019s sea and land borders with Turkey. The parliament\u2019s inquiry should examine whether any illegal acts identified are part of a de facto government policy at odds with international, European, and Greek law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years, nongovernmental groups and media outlets have consistently reported the unlawful return, including through pushbacks, of groups and individuals from Greece to Turkey by Greek law enforcement officers or unidentified masked men, who appear to be working in tandem with border enforcement officials.

Reports from 2020 recorded multiple incidents in which Greek Coast Guard personnel, sometimes accompanied by armed masked men in dark clothing, unlawfully abandoned migrants \u2013 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.

Nongovernmental organizations and the media have also reported persistent allegations that Greek border guards have engaged in collective expulsions and pushbacks of asylum seekers through the Evros land border with Turkey.

On June 10, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said it was \u201cclosely monitoring\u201d the situation at the Greek border and reported<\/a> receiving \u201cpersistent reports\u201d of migrants being arbitrarily arrested in Greece and pushed back to Turkey. The IOM said that Greece should investigate.

On August 21, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it was \u201cdeeply concerned<\/a> by an increasing number of credible reports indicating that men, women, and children may have been informally returned to Turkey immediately after reaching Greek soil or territorial waters in recent months,\u201d and urged Greece to refrain from such practices and to seriously investigate these reports. The agency had released a statement making similar calls on June 12th.<\/a>.

On July 6<\/a>, during a debate at the European Parliament\u2019s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) on fundamental rights at the Greek border, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, said those incidents should be investigated. In its new Pact on Migration and Asylum<\/a>, presented on September 23, the European Commission recommended to member states to set up an independent monitoring mechanism, amid increased allegations of abuse at the EU\u2019s external borders. But no such system has been instituted.

Confronted during a CNN interview with an August 14 New York Times New York Times<\/em> <\/a>documenting pushbacks, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said<\/a>\u201cIt has not happened. We\u2019ve been the victims of a significant misinformation campaign,\u201d suggesting instead that Turkey was responsible.

Greek lawmakers should conduct a prompt, effective, transparent, and impartial investigation into allegations that Greek Coast Guard, Greek police, and Greek army personnel, sometimes in close coordination with uniformed masked men, have been involved in acts that not only violate the law but put the lives and safety of displaced people at risk.

Any officer found to have engaged in such illegal acts, as well as their commanding officers and officials who have command responsibility over such forces, should be subject to disciplinary and criminal sanctions, as applicable. The investigation should seek to establish the identity and relationship of the masked men and other unidentified officers to law enforcement and take steps to hold them to account. The investigation should cover events surfaced in 2019 and 2020, the groups said.

The following quotes may be attributed to members of the groups involved:<\/strong>

\u201cDespite government denials, over the years many witnesses and victims have told us about pushbacks from land and sea that put migrants\u2019 lives at risk,\u201d said Eva Coss\u00e9<\/a>Greece researcher at Human Rights Watch. \u201cParliament should step up now and do all it can to put an end to this life-threatening practice.\u201d

\u201cThe continued failure to address the serious allegations of pushbacks and violence against people on the move at Greece\u2019s borders can no longer be tolerated,\u201d said Adriana Tidona, migration researcher at Amnesty International. \u201cWe call on the Greek parliament to exercise its powers in the interest of all those who have been harmed by these actions and to ensure that there is no repetition.\u201d

\u201cOver the years, we have filed a score of complaints about or related to pushbacks at Greece\u2019s borders, including deaths, that Greek prosecutors seem to ignore,\u201d said Panayote Dimitras, spokesperson for the Greek Helsinki Monitor. \u201cGreece needs to act quickly to set up an independent border monitoring mechanism to investigate violations, as proposed by the European Commission, and end these abuses once and for all.\u201d  

\u201cThe right to seek asylum must be upheld at all times,\u201d said Josie Naughton, chief executive officer of Help Refugees. \"The Greek parliament should urgently conduct an inquiry to examine the well-documented and illegal practices of pushbacks and mass expulsion, which endanger the lives of men, women, and children seeking asylum in Greece.\u201d

\u201cWe have documented the pushback of more than 1,150 asylum seekers from Greek territory in the past three months alone,\u201d said Natalie Gruber, spokesperson for Josoor. \u201cThese are not isolated incidents but systematic violations of national, EU, and international law that the parliament cannot shrug off as fake news anymore.\u201d

\u201cGreek authorities are systematically expelling migrants, including those who have reached Greek territory, and abandoning them in open water,\u201d said Amelia Cooper from Legal Centre Lesvos. \u201cThe Greek parliament should not only open an investigation of these events, but must also decree and enforce \u2013 immediately \u2013 the cessation of illegal collective expulsions at all Greek borders.\u201d

\u201cIn order to break with the current failures to hold member states like Greece accountable for their pushbacks and rights violations at borders, the European Commission must step up its efforts and quickly put in place an appropriate monitoring mechanism,\u201d said Marta Welander, executive director at Refugee Rights Europe. \u201cSuch efforts must also involve civil society, NGOs, and national human rights institutions to ensure that available evidence is taken seriously and leads to timely investigation and redress.\u201d

\u201cThe protection of the borders, of vital importance in itself, can be in compliance with international law and human rights standards,\u201d said Antigone Lyberaki, SolidarityNow\u2019s general manager. \u201cThe Greek parliament has both the means and a constitutional obligation to oversee and investigate the alleged infringement of international human rights obligations by the Greek state.\u201d

\u201cAs a child protection organization, Tdh Hellas is particularly worried about the fact that among those reported to have been violently expelled across EU borders are children, including babies,\u201d said Melina Spathari of Terre des hommes Hellas. \u201cThe Greek government should stop such acts and try instead to address the chronic gaps in the reception and protection system for families and unaccompanied children.\u201d

Signatories:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Human Rights Watch<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ActionAid Hellas<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amnesty International<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ARSIS \u2013 Association for the Social Support of Youth<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Danish Refugee Council<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Equal Rights Beyond Borders<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fenix \u2013 Humanitarian Legal Aid<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greek Council for Refugees<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greek Forum of Refugees<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greek Helsinki Monitor<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hellenic League for Human Rights<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Help Refugees<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HIAS Greece<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HumanRights360<\/p>\n\n\n\n

International Rescue Committee<\/p>\n\n\n\n

INTERSOS Hellas<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Josoor<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legal Centre Lesvos<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lesvos Solidarity<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medecins Du Monde \u2013 Greece<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mobile Info Team<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Network for Children\u2019s Rights<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PRAKSIS<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Refugee Legal Support<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Refugee Rights Europe<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Refugees International<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Refugee Support Aegean<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SolidarityNow<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Terre des hommes Hellas<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Greece: Investigate Pushbacks, Violence at Borders
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