pushbacks

23 / 03 / 2023

Pushbacks: MEPs ask for explanations after a report by Solomon & El País reveals mistreatment and exploitation of refugees

The president of the LIBE Committee and Spanish MEPs have asked the EU to investigate recent revelations and have proposed making adherence to human rights law a condition for the allocation of EU funds to Greece.

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09 / 03 / 2023

The Great Robbery: during illegal pushbacks in Greece, refugees are robbed by border guards

Solomon's investigation, in collaboration with the Spanish newspaper El País, reveals that Greek security forces have stolen more than €2 million from refugees during pushbacks.

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18 / 01 / 2023

The secret pushback “prisons” on the ferries of the Greece-Italy route

A month-long cross-border investigation, coordinated by Lighthouse Reports, reveals for the first time the secret rooms of the passenger ships, in which hundreds of asylum seekers are illegally deported from Italy to Greece.

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18 / 11 / 2022

Exclusive: UN Letter Documents Greek Pushback of Turkish Asylum Seekers

In March, eight Turks reached Greece by boat, fearing persecution in their homeland. The UN urged Greece to provide protection, but instead the men were pushed back to sea and into the arms of the Turkish police.

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15 / 07 / 2022

Dark Waters of the Aegean: 1,018 illegal pushbacks carried out by the Greek state

It has become a common practice for Greek authorities to abandon asylum seekers at sea, which has resulted in injuries and drownings. An interactive map reveals the recurring crime committed across the Aegean Sea. The Greek government must explain how abducting people in need and abandoning them in life rafts is linked to international law and European values.

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19 / 04 / 2022

European Court decision finds 2016 collective pushbacks “lawful”

On April 5, the European Court of Human Rights handed down a negative judgement on claims regarding the alleged pushback of approximately 1,500 asylum seekers into Greece via North Macedonia in 2016. ECHR acknowledged their violent persecution, but believed the applicants could have applied for asylum by other legal means ― although there weren’t any.

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19 / 10 / 2021

Congolese minor suing Frontex: “I thought that the law is upheld in Europe”

A.N., a young woman from Burundi, was recently granted asylum in Greece. However, her struggle continues. She is suing Frontex, for the first time in the history of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, for complicity in two pushback incidents that she claims preceded her asylum. The case is co-signed by an unaccompanied minor from the Democratic Republic of the Congo – who claims that he has been pushed backed to Turkey three times, where he currently remains.

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30 / 09 / 2021

The perilous border crossing “game” in Bosnia

Migrant people stranded at the Bosnian border wait for the right moment to try their hand at the “game”. Normally they must try multiple times due to violent pushbacks by border forces.

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08 / 06 / 2020

Pushbacks: The eternal denial of the Greek government

With mounting evidence and growing allegations of illegal deportation operations along the Greek-Turkish border, the Greek government maintains “ignorance”.

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