and risk to their life. After being beaten
they were pushed back to the Turkish
bank. Once they arrived at the Turkish
bank, they were arrested by the Turkish
Army and detained in a military camp.
On the next day, 1 August, the asylum
seekers were once again transferred by
Turkish soldiers to another islet in the
Evros river. According to the asylum
seekers: “everyone plays with us like
football back and forth”. They were
threatened by the Turkish soldiers to
move on towards the Greek bank, otherwise they would be sent back to Syria. On 7 August, Turkish soldiers took
them from there and transferred them
by military trucks to another location
on the Turkish bank. Under the threat
of guns, they put them in boats and led
them to the initial islet, where they had
originally been transferred on 14 July.45
On 8 August, one of the asylum seekers
contacted their lawyers in Greece and
informed them of their distressed condition and their location.
Asylum Seekers report the death of
a five-year-old girl after a scorpion
sting: On 9 August, the asylum seekers
informed the lawyers about the death
of a young girl. According to the asylum
seekers’ claims, the girl was stung by a
scorpion and died. On the same morning, one of the lawyers informed the Orestiada Public Prosecutor and the Greek
police about the reappearance of the
asylum seekers on the islet where they
had been originally stranded46 and the
alleged death of the young girl. A few
hours later the lawyers informed the
Greek Police about the decision of the
ECtHR on interim measures. On 11 August, at 05:53, the lawyers once again
sent the asylum seekers’ GPS coordinates to the Greek authorities with an
attached GPS metadata photo. On the
same day, the Greek National Commission for Human Rights sent a letter to
the Ministry of Citizen Protection underlining the importance of the Greek
State’s compliance with the Decisions of
the ECtHR. In the afternoon, the Greek
Police issued an official announcement
stating that the islet where the asylum
seekers were stranded was outside
Greek territory. On 13 August, the UNHCR stated that: “We continue to be
gravely concerned for the safety and
wellbeing of some 40 people allegedly
stranded on an islet at the Greece-Türkiye border. According to reports received a child has tragically already
died. Unless urgent action is taken, we
fear further lives remain at stake”.47 In
his initial statements the Minister acknowledged the death of the child, stating that the Greek Government would
cooperate with the Red Cross to locate
the burial point and offer the 5-yearold a respectful funeral.48 However, the
Greek Government did not take any
such action, whereas in October 2022
the family’s lawyers submitted an official request for an exhumation.49
45
The islet with the coordinates 41°16’21.2”N26°25’41.5”
46
The islet with the coordinates 41°16’21.2”N26°25’41.5”
UNHCR News on Twitter, 13 August 2022, available at: https://twitter.com/refugeesmedia/status/1558363463168233473
47
Hellenic Republic, Ministry of Migration and Asylum, N. Mitarakis: The Turkish gendarmerie forced
immigrants to cross illegally into Greece, 16 August 2022, (in Greek): http://bit.ly/3tW8E73
48
49
GCR, Press release in continuation of the clarification of the border status of the Evros islet, 12 Octo-
AT EUROPE’S BORDERS: BETWEEN IMPUNITY AND CRIMINALIZATION
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