2. PUSHBACKS AS AN ESTABLISHED POLICY 2.1. Definition of Pushbacks “Pushbacks” is the illegal state practice of informally and forcefully removing a person or a group of persons out of the country’s territory without assessing their claims for entry or protection.1 Pushback operations take place both at land and sea borders and can be conducted not only during the crossing of the border, but even after the arrival of the individual or the group to the territory. The Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants defines “pushbacks” as “various measures taken by States which result in migrants, including asylum seekers, being summarily forced back to the country from where they attempted to cross or have crossed an international border without access to international protection or asylum procedures or denied of any individual assessment on their protection needs which may lead to a violation of the principle of non-refoulement”.2 Pushbacks are also known as illegal forced returns, illegal collective expulsions, illegal refoulements, illegal forced removals. However, these are all ways to describe the unlawful practice of informally removing a person or group of persons from a country to another without applying legal frameworks and procedural safeguards. 3 Pushbacks are in violation of the main principle of asylum and refugee law, the principle of non-refoulement. In particular, according to Article 33 (1) of the 1951 Refugee Convention: No Contracting State shall expel or return (‘refouler’) a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.4 The principle of non-refoulement is part of Directive 2013/32/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has also recognized the principle of non-refoulement, specifically under 1 See relatively the definition of “pushbacks” provided by ECCHR, European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, available at: https://www.ecchr.eu/en/glossary/push-back/ UN Human Rights Council, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Report on means to address the human rights impact of pushbacks of migrants on land and at sea, 12 May 2021, available at: https:// bit.ly/3GRU0nt 2 Note from the authors: The term “pushback” is going to be used throughout the Report in order to describe the aforementioned practice of illegal forced removals from the Greek territory. 3 The principle of non- refoulement has been reaffirmed in a series of international conventions, among others the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted on 10 December 1984 by the General Assembly resolution 39/46 prohibits refoulement in Article 3, according to which: “No State Party shall expel, return (“refouler”) or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture.” According to UNHCR, the principle of non-refoulement has become a norm of customary international law. 4 AT EUROPE’S BORDERS: BETWEEN IMPUNITY AND CRIMINALIZATION 5