TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. 2. INTRODUCTION. ..............................p.4 PUSHBACKS AS AN ESTABLISHED POLICY. .................p.5 2.1. Definition of Pushbacks. ................p.5 2.2. Documented pushbacks in Greece..............................................p.6 3. PUSHBACK CASES IN EVROS......p.9 3.1. The Situation in Evros.....................p.9 3.2. Pushback cases before the ECtHR........................................... p.11 A. EVROS ISLETS................................. p.13 I. The emblematic pushback case from the Evros mainland to an islet- before the shift of the pushback practice.......................... p.13 II. The pushback case involving rape of men and women.............. p.16 III. Asylum seekers injured by commandos’ attacks on the islet in the pushback case of 20 April 2022. .................................. p.19 IV. Use of migrants as authorities’ auxiliaries in the pushback operation of 25 April 2022. .......p.20 V. The pushback case of the 38 syrians stranded on an Evros islet divided by a Greek-Turkish border line that creates a Greek and a Turkish part. ......................... p.21 B. EVROS MAINLAND.......................p.26 I. The pushback and torture case of the 5 Turkish asylum seekers...............................................p.26 II. The case of 7 Turkish asylum seekers detected between Orestiada and Neo Cheimonio and pushed back on 27 June 2022...................................p.28 III. IV. C. I. II. 4. I. II. 5. A. B. 6. 7. The case of 5 Turkish asylum seekers detected in the vicinity of Orestiada and pushed back on 4 July 2022................................p.29 The pushback case that led to the imprisonment of the Turkish asylum seeker after the forced “repatriation” to Turkey...............p.30 THE PULLBACK OPERATIONS DESCRIBED IN PUSHBACK VICTIMS’ TESTIMONIES.............. p.32 Pulled back to Turkey with the use of tree trunks................... p.32 Pushed back with the use of firearms before being violently pulled back. ..................................... p.33 PUSHBACK CASES AFTER ARRIVAL ON GREEK ISLANDS BROUGHT BEFORE THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR. ............................... p.35 Pushback after entry into a government-run facility in Lesvos. ..........................................p.36 Pushback of recognized Palestinian refugees on the Eastern Aegean Island of Kos...p.38 CRIMINALIZATION OF NGOs ASSISTING THE NEWLY ARRIVED ASYLUM SEEKERS IN EVROS. ......................................... p.41 Targeting of NGOs operating in Evros............................................... p.41 Shifting the focus away from the violent pushback of the 38: Stigmatization, Targeting, Intimidation......................................p.43 CONCLUSIONS. .............................p.46 RECOMMENDATIONS..................p.48 AT EUROPE’S BORDERS: BETWEEN IMPUNITY AND CRIMINALIZATION 3