statements, are related to the NGOs that file the interim measures, work, give publicity to the incident so that the authorities will cross the [border] fence to find them and bring them to a registration center. In the particular case the interim measures were filed by two Greek NGOs; the president of one of them is a former General Secretary of the Ministry of Migration during SYRIZA82 ” Minister of Migration and Asylum before the Greek Parliament, 30 August 2022. 83 “There are certain [NGOs] that operate in Greece and they have all the requirements [i.e. to be registered in the Ministry’s NGO Registry], however, they are not behaving as they should. You saw what happened with the Evros islet issue. Two NGOs appealed before the ECtHR, they presented the islet as Greek, in fact they played a very undermining role for national sovereignty and national security, and the risk of causing a border incident there.” Deputy Minister of Migration and Asylum, 3 October 2022. 84 Within this context, the Greek Government initially started a controversy regarding the territorial status of the islet where the refugees were stranded by insisting that it was Turkish territory and therefore, Greece could not conduct a rescue operation. 85 Eventually, the Greek Ministry of Defense in reply to a parliamentary question acknowledged that the islet is divided by the Greek- Turkish border line, thus creating a Greek and a Turkish part. 86 However, the Greek Government has kept this acknowledgment quiet and continues the misinformation of the public. 87 According to media reports, as of late September 2022, the Anti-Money Laundering Authority started an investigation of the activities and the finances of HR360. The investigation was ordered as a priority by the President of the Anti-Money Laundering 82 The Syriza party formed the former Government in Greece and is the current government’s largest opposition party. By (wrongfully) linking the NGOs to the opposition party, the Greek state is suggesting hidden political motives to the legal aid work of these organizations before the ECtHR. 83 Hellenic Republic, Ministry of Migration and Asylum, N. Mitarakis: “Significant inconsistencies in the case of the 38 immigrants in Evros, I will submit all the evidence to the Prosecutor’s Office”, 30 August 2022, (in Greek), available at: http://bit.ly/3U1Qnju SKAI FM, (in Greek): Sofia Vultepsi on ΣΚΑΙ 100,3 FM radio, min: 6:40- 7:54, 3 October 2022, https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNawvv6MelU&ab_channel=SKAIRADIO100%2C3FM 84 Indicatively, see the following: Hellenic Republic, Ministry of Migration and Asylum, Notis Mitarakis: Submitted evidence to the Prosecutor of the Supreme Court - “Information about third party involvement in the Evros case”, 1 September 2022, (in Greek), available at: http://bit.ly/3V4vsgW 85 Official Letter-Response of the Greek Minister of Defense to the Hellenic Parliament, Answer on the issue of “sovereignty on an islet in Evros”, 7 October 2022, http://bit.ly/3i2P8mB. See also relatively: GCR, Press release in continuation of the clarification of the border status of the Evros islet, 12 October 2022, (in Greek): http://bit.ly/3Vn7xcd 86 87 Civil society denounced the government’s systematic use of misinformation aimed at covering up illegal practices and targeting people and organizations that report pushbacks, in: Joint Press Release of 16 civil society organizations, 5 October 2022, available at: https://bit.ly/3D6Lr7f, Asylum Campaign (Καμπάνια για το Άσυλο), Press Release, It is the Greek Government’s responsibility to immediately put a stop to informal forced returns (pushbacks): They endanger human lives and breach the state’s international obligations, 5 October 2022, http://bit.ly/3Vptwzq, GCR statement in the aftermath of recent announcements on the case of the 38 refugees, 23 September 2022, https://bit.ly/3BFNopu 44 AT EUROPE’S BORDERS: BETWEEN IMPUNITY AND CRIMINALIZATION