Eight-four irregular immigrants were determined to have been pushed into Turkish territorial waters by Greek forces were rescued in Didim.

Similar news has become quite frequent in recent days. When news sources are examined, approximately 200 irregular immigrants were pushed into Turkish waters by Greece during the past two weeks off the coast of Kuşadası and Didim.

Irregular immigrants trying to cross to Greece via Türkiye are mostly Syrian refugees. However, the irregular immigrant problem is not limited to Syrians and Türkiye.

The Izmir Refugee Solidarity Platform (İMDP) has now reported the rights violations that emerged as a result of interviews in June and July with 75 refugees over the age of 18.

It was stated in the report that they were exposed to one or more of the following: shouting, pushing, hitting, being handcuffed behind their backs or violent acts.

2 octobre 2015-Photo By, Aris Messinis

In the maltreatment stories of the refugees, it was stated that law enforcement carried out acts of torture, harassment and similar crimes.

The report stated that the aggressive language that started on social media found a response at every stage of society, and emphasized that the negative atmosphere towards refugees and foreigners was reflected in the attitudes of official authorities.

The Washington-based Syrian human rights organization filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2021, alleging crimes against humanity, citing Greece’s mistreatment of refugees.

The Syrian Center for Justice and Accountability reported that the witnesses and video footage they received showed that Greek authorities mistreated and abused refugees at the border and in overcrowded camps. The report was submitted to the ICC. However, no results have been obtained yet.

The human rights organization pointed out that the forces responsible for border security used tear gas to disperse refugee protests and that there were poor and unhealthy conditions in the camps.

It was reported that Frontex, the Operational Cooperation Agency for the Management of External Borders of European Union Member States, was aware of Greece’s illegal practices such as turning back immigrants at the border and pushing them back into Turkish waters, but turned a blind eye to them.

According to a report by the New York Times last November, based on documents obtained and interviews with officials, EU border security agency Frontex personally participated in and assisted in this illegal practice in at least one case.

Photo By, Aris Messinis

Accordingly, Frontex employees witnessed a Greek ship forcing a boat full of immigrants in the middle of the Aegean Sea to go towards Turkish territorial waters, but those in the team were told not to report this situation to their superiors.

This incident is currently under investigation within Frontex and it is being investigated whether it is an isolated incident.

Photo By, Aris Messinis