2020) to the Greek Government “At the time of the visit, Soufli and Neo Cheimonio stations were not holding any migrants. Both had, however, held significant numbers of persons in the two weeks prior to the visit. It was noticeable that at Neo Cheimonio, in particular, the sanitary annexes were very dirty, with human faeces smeared on the floor in several of them”.32 The report further highlights that “the CPT again received consistent and credible allegations of migrants being pushed back across the Evros River border to Turkey”, also it referred to “a number of allegations by migrants that they had been ill-treated by members of the Hellenic Police and/or Coast Guard either upon apprehension or after being brought to a place of detention”.33 The findings of this report show that 3 years later, the Neo Cheimonio Border Guard Station continues to be used as a place of detention where human rights are being violated and crimes are being committed against the detained asylum seekers. Number of Formal Arrivals & Arrests in Evros border: According to the UNHCR, between the beginning of 2022 and the end of November 2022, 5,561 people arrived in Greece through the Greek-Turkish land border of Evros, compared to a total of 4,826 in 2021. 34 According to Greek police statistics, 3,787 arrests were carried out in 2021 for irregular entry across the Evros land border with Turkey. 35 However, the registered number of entries under-represents the number of people actually entering Greek territory, considering that cases of pushbacks at the Greek-Turkish land borders have been systematically reported. 36 Furthermore, according to one of the most recent public statements of the Greek Minister of Citizens’ Protection, “over 250,000 illegal migrants were prevented from entering Greece through the Evros border in 2022”. 37 3.2. Pushback cases before the ECtHR Between 16 March 2022 and 22 October 2022, GCR successfully filed interim measures (see box) at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) under Rule 39 of the Rules of the Court for 21 groups of asylum seekers that arrived in the Evros region, following ineffective written interventions made by GCR towards the Greek authorities for the search and rescue of these particular groups of people38; the authorities 32 COE, CPT, Report to the Greek Government on the visit to Greece carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 13 to 17 March 2020, available at: https://rm.coe.int/1680a06a86 33 COE, Council of Europe’s Anti-Torture Committee calls on Greece to reform its immigration detention system and stop pushbacks, 19 November 2020, available at: https://bit.ly/3F4GA6S 34 UNHCR, Operational Data Portal, Mediterranean Situation: Greece, available at: https://bit.ly/3VfRcqk 35 Information provided by the Directorate of the Hellenic Police, 8 March 2022. 36 ECRE, AIDA Report - Greece 2021, p. 18. 37 Greek Reporter, Greece Ready to Extend Turkey Border Fence by 35 kilometers, available at: https:// bit.ly/3GyXsmP 38 GCR, Information Note on interventions and on interim measures granted by the ECtHR in cases AT EUROPE’S BORDERS: BETWEEN IMPUNITY AND CRIMINALIZATION 11