By Viviane Faver
The Greek government faces criticism accused of pushing migrant boats back into the Mediterranean Sea, effectively condemning many on board to death or inhumane conditions.
According to The New York Times, Greek authorities have quietly forced the departure of more than 1,000 refugees, taking those arriving by boat and driving them back to Greek territorial waters’ shores.
It has also been revealed that refugees are left in the middle of the ocean in overloaded lifeboats or inflatable boats that can quickly sink.
Documents analyzed by the newspaper show that there were at least 31 separate cases, the Greek government abandoned at least 1,072 migrants at sea. The act of catching migrants and pushing them back to the sea to die within the European Union violates the law, according to DW.com.
“It was very inhuman. I left Syria for fear of bombing – but when that happened, I wished I had died under a bomb,” Najma al-Khatib told The New York Times in an interview.
Al-Khatib said on July 26, masked Greek officers took her, 20 others, and two babies out of a detention center on Rhodes’ island. Officials put them on life rafts in pitch-black darkness, and they were left in the middle of the sea on a raft with no motor.
Fortunately, the Turkish Coast Guard rescued them; however, there is even more serious news, such as a video in which the Turkish Coast Guard published showing Greek officers intentionally shutting down a boat’s engine and leaving people floating in the sea.
Greek authorities have denied illegal activities. But for years, Greek citizens have expressed fury because, since 2015, thousands of migrants from Africa and the Middle East have tried to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Greece or Italy in the hope of a better life.
The European Union tried to keep migrants away from boats heading for Greece and Italy, but that deal started to crumble when Turkey became home to millions of Syrian immigrants fleeing civil war.
According to The New York Times, Greek officials accused Turkey of essentially arming migrants and sending them to Europe to receive a more lucrative and favorable deal from the European Union.
François Crépeau, a former United Nations special rapporteur on migrants’ human rights, told the newspaper that human rights advocates had long suspected that Greece was expelling migrants before they made it to shore. But now that Greek officials are taking people who have already made it and forcing them back out, the situation has reached another illegality level, Crépeau said.
“These pushbacks are totally illegal in all their aspects, in international law, and in European law. It is a human right and humanitarian disaster,” he said.
Several photos and videos are being shared by migrants.
“They told us that they would take us for a Corona test, and then we would get our belongings back and be transferred to Athens. They put everyone in … children, women, the elderly, and young people. They left no one on the ship,” said a refugee to Keady-Tabbal.
Crépeau says the coronavirus pandemic helped to increase this situation. “Unfortunately, there has been a widespread reaction against migration across Europe, leading to a situation where few countries are politically willing to criticize Greece for its recent actions.”
