-4C. Context of the visit 5. On 28 February 2020, the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made a statement3 declaring that the borders to the EU were open and that Turkish forces would no longer prevent people from trying to access Greece. As from 29 February, thousands of migrants started to converge on the Turkish side of the north-west land border to Greece in the region of Edirne. Crossings by boat also increased for a few days, for example, on 1 and 2 March, 1,200 persons arrived on the Greek islands.4 In reaction to these developments, the Greek authorities reinforced the numbers of police and military personnel guarding the Evros border and increased its patrols of the shipping lanes between Turkey and the Aegean islands, notably, Chios, Kos, Lesbos and Samos. Further, on Sunday, 1 March, the Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, announced the suspension of asylum applications.5 Reference might also be made to the position adopted by the European Commission and, in particular, by the Commissioner for Home Affairs that it is “absolutely necessary that we, the European Union protect our external borders. But it is also absolutely necessary that we defend our fundamental rights and values, including the right to asylum”.6 6. In the first few days of March, confrontations occurred at the Kastanies border crossing, which included reports of live ammunition being fired and the death of one migrant7 and injuries to several others on 4 March 2020. With migrants appearing at risk of being subjected to treatment contrary to Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the CPT decided to use its preventative mandate to examine for itself the situation of migrants who had crossed into Greece. The CPT also wishes to place on record that it has received information from numerous sources and from interviews with migrants who all alleged that the Turkish authorities took active measures to promote and facilitate the large-scale entry of persons into Greece. Regardless of their number, the men, women and children crossing into Greek territory are individuals who must be treated with dignity and respect and in accordance with European norms. The findings of the visit demonstrate that this was not always the case. 3 4 5 6 7 Cumhurbaşkanı Erdoğan: 18 bin düzensiz göçmen sınırı geçti, kapıları kapatmayacağız (President Erdoğan of Turkey: 18 thousand irregular immigrants crossed the border, we will not close the doors). UNHCR Refugee Brief of 2 March 2020 Act of Legislative Content for the suspension of asylum applications (GG A’ 45/2.3.2020) was published on 2 March 2020, giving retrospective effect (from 1 March 2020) to this decision. Commissioner Ylva Johansson, Opening statement to debate on situation at Greek-Turkish border, European Parliament Plenary Session, 10 March 2020 See the detailed forensic analysis video (16 minutes) published by Der Spiegel on 8 May 2020 which was drawn up together with research teams from Forensic Architecture, Lighthouse Reports and Bellingcat.