A report published on the BBC’s website on Tuesday claimed that the Greek authorities have turned to other migrants who took shelter in the country to illegally push back irregular migrants into Türkiye.
The Turkish-Greek border has been a hot spot for irregular migration. A large number of assorted groups of migrants, including those from Afghanistan, Syria, African countries, as well as Turkish nationals themselves, were intercepted on the border. As of April 9, official figures of intercepted irregular migrants are nearly 35,000.
“Pushback” is a controversial and illegal practice, but Greece has repeatedly engaged in it, according to reports by human rights organizations monitoring migrant flow into Greece that escalated in the past decade.
Many boatloads of migrants attempt to make the dangerous sea crossing to reach the Greek islands from the Turkish coast, hoping to eventually make their way to prosperous European Union countries.
Others attempt to enter Greece by crossing the Maritsa (Meriç) River that runs along the land border between the two countries.
While many make it to the EU, many others perish at sea or are pushed back by Greece into Turkish waters in violation of international law.
The BBC report says that the Greek police recruited migrants as mercenaries to push other migrants back across its land border with Türkiye. The report, based on witness accounts and other evidence, says migrants were stripped, robbed, beaten and in some cases, sexually assaulted. It also says those “mercenaries” were unofficially employed on the border since at least 2020. Those hired for pushbacks included migrants from Pakistan, Syria and Afghanistan, and in some cases, they were rewarded with cash and possessions looted from other irregular migrants, the report says, in addition to travel documents allowing them to travel across the country.
A recruited migrant who spoke to the BBC claimed that he was tasked with ferrying people back to Türkiye, checking migrant boats for punctures and burning belongings of migrants to destroy evidence of pushback.
Türkiye has intensified nationwide operations in recent years amid rising regional migration pressures.
Earlier this year, the Interior Ministry announced that 478 irregular migrants and 19 migrant smugglers were captured in nationwide inspections.
Police, gendarmerie, coast guard and border patrols joined forces for inspections in 81 provinces under the coordination of the General Directorate of Migration.
