Turkish Coast Guard rescued 125 irregular migrants in the Aegean Sea after they were illegally pushed back into Turkish territorial waters by Greek authorities, officials said Sunday.
Coast guard units noticed groups of irregular migrants in rubber boats off the coasts of the Dikili and Menderes districts of western Izmir province and rescued them from the sea. The migrants were taken to the provincial migration authority for regular procedures.
Türkiye and global rights groups have repeatedly condemned Greece’s illegal practice of pushing back irregular migrants, saying it violates humanitarian values and international law by endangering the lives of vulnerable migrants, including women and children.
Türkiye has been a key transit point for irregular migrants seeking to cross into Europe to start new lives, especially those fleeing war and persecution.
The Greek government denies all allegations, despite claims to the contrary from alleged victims, rights groups, Turkish drones and even the U.N.’s special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants.
"In Greece, pushbacks at land and sea borders have become the de facto general policy," the U.N.’s special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Felipe Gonzalez Morales, said last year.
Similarly, many in the international community, including Türkiye, which attracts illegal migrants worldwide for being a key gateway to Europe, have frequently condemned the practice as a violation of humanitarian values and international law for endangering the lives of vulnerable migrants.
Greece has also been accused of deliberately and systematically cooperating with the EU's border agency Frontex for the pushbacks, according to a 2022 investigation by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF).
While the Turkish coast guard has come to the rescue of thousands sent back by Greek authorities, countless others died at sea as boats full of refugees sank or capsized, especially in the Aegean Sea where both countries share a border.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) recorded nearly 2,000 migrants dead or missing in the Mediterranean Sea last year.