A video attests to the refoulement of migrants by Greece in Turkish territorial waters

Two days before the legislative elections in Greece, Athens was under pressure, Friday, May 19, after the publication of a video and testimonies accusing the Greek authorities of turning back migrants, including children, in Turkish territorial waters. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has called for a “independent and effective investigation” following these “disturbing images and videos” published by the American daily New York Times (article in english).

In this video shot by a human rights activist on the Greek island of Lesbos in the Aegean Sea in April, a group of migrants, including a baby, are driven in a white van to the southern tip of the island. Embarked on board a small boat, they are then transferred on board a Greek coast guard boat before being abandoned on “a drifting black inflatable life raft”, according to the American daily. Turkish coastguard boats then rescued them.

“Continuous and systematic pushbacks”

The New York Times claimed to have located the migrants in an Izmir detention center where they told reporters about their odyssey. “We remain gravely concerned by the continued and systematic pushbacks at the border between Greece and Turkey,” said OHCHR spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani, recalling that these practices violate “the right to seek protection under international law”. The Greek authorities have already been accused on several occasions of practicing illegal deportations to Turkey of people seeking asylum in the European Union.

The government of conservative Kyriakos Mitsotakis has always denied resorting to such practices despite numerous testimonies and videos collected by refugee aid NGOs and several international media.