Documentation is mounting of Greek authorities carrying out violent "pushbacks" of asylum-seekers and migrants at the country's land and sea borders with Turkey. The practice violates [7] EU and international law, but in the past four months human rights groups and media outlets have documented an uptick [8] in its use at the Greece-Turkey land border. Rights groups have also documented the abandonment of asylum-seekers in "floating tents [9]" without any means of propulsion in the Aegean Sea, and masked men sabotaging [10] boats carrying asylum-seekers. The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has urged [11] Greece to investigate.
The spike in pushbacks began in March following a highly politicized showdown [14] between Turkey and the European Union over refugee hosting. This was sparked when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan abrogated his deal [15] with the EU, declaring he would no longer prevent asylum-seekers from leaving the country. In response, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis vowed to turn people back [16] from the country's border.
Mitsotakis' government has taken a hardline approach to migration policy since coming into office last summer. Oxfam International and the Greek Council for Refugees jointly said that [17] Greece's overhauled asylum law, which came into effect in January, is "designed to deport people rather than offer them safety and protection."
From The New Humanitarian [18], July 7
