(Athens) Ninety-two refugees were found naked after being forced, according to Athens, to cross the Evros river separating Turkey from Greece, “an inhuman image”, according to the Greek Minister of Civil Protection on Sunday.
Posted at 10:58 a.m.
The European border surveillance agency Frontex confirmed to AFP “the rescue of 92 migrants on Friday” with the help of the Greek authorities, according to a spokeswoman, Paulina Bakula.
“The (Frontex) agents reported that the migrants had been found naked and some of them had visible injuries,” she added from Warsaw, the organization’s headquarters, while Athens assures that Ankara forced these people to undress before deporting them to the Greek side of the border.
Greek Minister of Civil Protection, Takis Theodorikakos, accused Turkey of “instrumentalising illegal immigration” but Ankara denied any involvement in the bad and degrading treatment inflicted on these refugees.
Greece must stop “manipulation and dishonesty”, according to a tweet in English by Turkish Deputy Interior Minister Ismail Catakli.
Most of these people, Syrians and Afghans, “described to Frontex agents that three Turkish army vehicles had transferred them to Evros”, assured Takis Theodorikakos in an interview with the chain of Skai private television.
Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi on Saturday called the incident a “disgrace to civilization”.
Athens is regularly singled out by NGOs and various journalistic investigations for illegal and violent pushbacks carried out at its maritime and land borders with Turkey.
But it has always denied resorting to this practice, which is contrary to international law.
At the end of September at the United Nations platform, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accused Greece of turning the Aegean Sea into a “cemetery” with “its oppressive policies”.
Reacting to the incident on Sunday, the NGO Mare Liberum considered that “in the Evros region, crimes against human rights are systematic and committed on a daily scale by Turkey and the Greece”.
“When these crimes are discussed publicly by members of governments, it only serves to fuel the conflict between Greece and Turkey,” the NGO continues.