Big Issue North article - 29 March 2021
REFUGEES FORCED OUT OF GREECE
Government accused of 1,400 “pushbacks”
Human rights groups
and MEPs speak out
The Greek government has been accused of pushbacks of
refugees arriving on its shores. A human rights group has compiled a report
claiming that nearly 1,400 people were pushed back over a border in March-July
last year, undermining their right to claim asylum. And a group of MEPs has
written to the European Commission urging it to make clear their concerns to
the Greek government.
Fleeing conflict
The figure of 1,400 is likely to be an underestimate,
according to Vasilis Tsarnas of the human rights group Greek Helsinki Monitor,
which compiled the report that has now been sent to the Greek supreme court,
naval court and military appeals court.
“Clearly we cannot
get to know of each incident in which refugees are being denied the right to
arrive in Greece by state forces,” said Tsarnas, who claims that NGOs and
journalists are being denied access to the Greek islands nearest to the Turkish
shore where many people are being turned back.
An Athens bookshop worker, Tsarnas volunteers for Greek
Helsinki Monitor, which was founded in 1993 to support human and minority
rights, and to campaign against discrimination.
“We record incidents and send them to prosecutors, who
generally fail to act by enforcing current legislation,” he said. “It thus
requires further efforts to put public and political pressure on state
authorities. Where necessary we apply to take cases to the European Court of
Human Rights and send reports to the UN in Geneva.”
Thanks to its monitoring, Greek Helsinki Monitor assisted
the ruling last year in which the neo-fascist party Golden Dawn was found
guilty of running a criminal organisation as it became prominent during the
country’s financial crisis, when it systematically targeted migrants and
leftwing critics. Former Golden Dawn MPs have now been imprisoned.
Since 2015, most entrants to Greece are refugees fleeing
conflict in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. They arrive via Turkey. Some Greek MPs
have accused the Turkish government of attacking the country by sending
refugees.
In February, Aegean Boat Report, a Norwegian NGO, reported
that 13 people from Afghanistan – including three women and five children –
were removed soon after arriving at a Greek statefacilitated refugee camp in
Lesbos. They were forced into a container by four men wearing unmarked dark
uniforms, beaten with batons, and the women were assaulted. A van transported
the 13 to a port and forced them on to an inflatable life raft that was towed
out to sea. They were abandoned without life jackets and picked up by the
Turkish coast guard off Behram early the following morning.
“Greek Helsinki Monitor is now representing eight of the
illegally deported Afghans, who should be allowed to return to Greece and apply
to stay,” said Tsarnas.
“We are pleased that a number of MEPs have written to Ylva
Johansson, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs.”
In their letter the MEPs state: “The Greek government’s
claims that they are complying with all international laws and obligations are
highly questionable… we urge you to address this level of pushbacks in the
European Union as a matter of priority.”
According to Tsarnas supporting refugees forms part of
defending human rights for all. He believes the indifference of many members of
the public and politicians to the desperate plight of those seeking to reach
Europe through Greece is allowing the police and other state forces to
increasingly act violently towards other groups, including workers and
students.
“It is inevitable that there will be deaths of people who
are risking everything for the prospect of a better life,” he added.
Shot at the border
Between 1993 and 2020, 40,555 refugees and migrants have
died after coming to Europe, according to United for Intercultural Action. They
include Fatma, a Syrian woman, who was shot by a Greek border guard as she and
her husband and six children sought to cross into Greece via the Evros river
near Edirne last year. Other Syrian refugees were also shot dead by border
guards around this time.
Nearer to home, deaths among migrants and refugees seeking
to cross the English Channel included a family of three children who perished
in October 2020. Britain has since left the EU. Nevertheless, said Anya
Edmond-Pettitt of the Institute of Race Relations: “The UK cannot abandon all
those trying to reach here. International conventions still apply, like the UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child, requiring safe and legal family reunion
routes for children.
“Maritime search and
rescue of vessels in distress at sea is accepted the world over. We must
pressure the government and all parties to uphold these lifesaving measures.”
