The United Nation’s refugee agency (UNHCR) on Monday called for Greece to stop pushing back migrants attempting to seek asylum in the country.
Greek politicians denied the accusations that such pushback was taking place, saying that the UNHCR has been misled by Turkish propaganda. Turkey recently bolstered claims that Greece was responsible for the deaths of migrants pushed back from its borders.
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi spoke out against “the increasing number of incidents of violence and serious human rights violations against refugees and migrants at various European borders,” with multiple deaths. Gandi also called out Greece directly.
“We are alarmed by recurrent and consistent reports coming from Greece’sland and sea borders with Turkey, where UNHCR has recorded almost 540 reported incidents of informal returns by Greece since the beginning of 2020,” he added.
Gandi referenced the deaths of three people since September 2021 that occurred due to pushbacks at Greece’s sea borders. Gandi said that some migrants were “left adrift in life rafts or sometimes even forced directly into the water, showing a callous lack of regard for human life.”