Greece's controversial "pushback" of migrants caught near the Turkish border led to the death of a Pakistani migrant, Turkish media outlets reported.
The 18-year-old man, identified as M.G., was among a group of migrants who snuck into Greece from Turkey. Greek border authorities sent him and the others back illegally via the Evros (Meriç) river and, according to fellow migrants, M.G. fell into the icy water. He was pulled back to the safety of the boat but became ill after being exposed to frigid temperatures.
Gendarmerie forces intercepting the group discovered the shivering man and brought him to a Turkish hospital in the border city of Edirne where he succumbed to hypothermia. Dozens of migrants found on the Turkish-Greek border claim that they were beaten by Greek border officials and forcibly returned to Turkey.
Based on the accounts of the illegally deported migrants, Greek police officers have been accused of confiscating the migrants' valuable possessions and of torture.
