»The truth may be bitter, but it must be told« 1. The practices of the Greek coast guard: systematic human rights violations Northcoast of Lesbos: marooned rubber dinghy. The experiences of refugees: maltreatment and denial of access to the territory the Turkish coast guard. The boat took us to the Turkish mainland. It was only after a second attempt that we were able to reach Greece.« Almost all reports from over 100 surveyed refugees detail mistreatment by the Greek coast guard. There are similarly consistent accounts of the diversion of boats from Greek national waters, a breach of international human rights obligations. Lesbos: Abandoned 2 »We had nearly reached the Greek island of Lesbos, which lay in front of us. Suddenly a boat from the Greek coast guard appeared. The officials beat us. Then they drove us back into open water. We had to take off our belts and shoes, and were made to disembark on an uninhabited island, without food or water. We waved at the ships we saw passing, to no avail. It was only after three days that we were rescued by a ship belonging to Lesbos: Two attempts 3 »We used one of those small inflatable dinghies. We had wrapped all our things in plastic bags. We left at about two in the morning. After six hours at sea we finally reached the Greek coast. We were discovered by the greek coast guard about 300 meters away from the Island of Lesbos. It was a fast white boat; it circled our boat at high speed. The police threw us a rope and we were taken on board. We were tired, fully exhausted, and only wanted to sleep. We lay down on the floor. The police shouted ›don’t sleep, sit up!‹ They kicked us. We were forced to sit up. Another boat was called. They were rough with us as they put us on the other boat. The police shouted at us: ›Malaka‹ and other swearwords which we couldn’t understand. We pleaded with them: ›We are humans, please help us‹. The little boat which The practices of the Greek coast guard: systematic human rights violations 9