Faced with an emboldened Greece that has recently intensified its systemic strategy of refugee push-backs in the Mediterranean, which led to the death of hundreds, if not thousands, of migrants, the EU has remained oddly silent on the well-documented atrocities being committed at sea in broad daylight.
The inhumane practice in question is not confined to pushing back or deflating refugees’ flimsy boats and dinghies at sea, but also at Turkish border crossings, where migrants, as far back as 2018, have been violently assaulted by Greek border guards who strip them naked and steal all their belongings before sending them back to Turkey.
Videos and articles published by outlets such as Yeni Şafak, DHA and the state-owned Anadolu Agency have meticulously documented these inhumane practices. Numerous drone footage captured Greek coastguards in the act as they left Syrian, Afghan, and Pakistani migrants to die at sea after destroying their boats in the Mediterranean without batting an eye.
In a June 2021 article, Yeni Şafak called the practice “inhumane” as it published heart-wrenching photos that showed mostly naked refugees who were pushed back and beaten by the Greeks, before they were rescued in Turkey’s bordering Edirne province, where they received help and treatment for the bruising on their backs.
The EU’s silence on this issue has been deafening and speaks volumes on the bloc’s commitment to its own human rights values. Greece must not be allowed to escape accountability for these harrowing actions if the bloc wishes to maintain any semblance of credibility on the global stage. The first step would be to establish a mechanism that would put an immediate end to these practices and not let the perpetrators of these crimes go unpunished.