ENTER AT YOUR PERIL
Lives put at risk at the gate of europe
One of the main entry routes for migrants
and refugees trying to find safety or a better
life in the European Union (EU) is the
border between Turkey and Greece: on land
in the Evros region in the north and across
the Aegean Sea in the south. In 2012, more
people crossed this border irregularly than
any of the EU’s other external borders.
Many of them came from conflict-torn
countries like Afghanistan and Syria.
In the last few years, Greece, with backing
from the EU, has invested millions of euros
to keep migrants out. In 2012, it completed
a 10.5km fence along the most transited
part of its land border with Turkey and
deployed almost 2,000 additional border
guards. Detention – often in appalling
conditions – is the routine fate of those who
arrive in Greece irregularly.
© Amnesty International
However, not everyone who sets out for
Greece will arrive there. Since August 2012,
at least 101 men, women and children,
mostly Syrians and Afghans, have died
attempting to cross the sea to reach the
Greek islands. Reports of push-backs (the
unlawful and often dangerous practice of
B U L G A R I A
returning intercepted migrants to Turkey)
are frequent.
The Greek government has the
prerogative to control the entry into and
stay of non-nationals in Greek territory,
and the EU can support member states
in carrying out legitimate border control
activities. But the methods used on
Greece’s border with Turkey have led
to serious human rights violations.
Other EU member states appear only too
happy for Greece to act as their gatekeeper.
But the policies and practices along the
Greek border do not just shame Greece.
They shame the European Union as a
whole. They expose the bitter irony of
European countries pressing for peace
abroad while denying asylum to and risking
the lives of those who seek refuge in Europe
from conflicts in their homelands.
Migrants and refugees interviewed by
Amnesty International described at least
39 separate instances of push-backs from
Greece to Turkey, which they claimed to
have experienced themselves between
BLACK
SEA
Edirne
Orestiada
Evros
Region
G R E E C E
River Evros
Istanbul
Alexandroupoli
Samothraki
T U R K E Y
Çanakkale
In this area, the border between
Greece and Turkey does not follow
the course of the River Evros. A
10.5km long fence now shields
this part of Greece’s border with
Turkey, which used to be one of
the busiest transit points for
irregular migration to Europe.
Limnos
AEGEAN
SEA
Lesvos
Izmir
Chios
Athens
Samos
Aydin
index: eur 25/007/2013
August 2012 and May 2013. They reported
that they were never given an opportunity
to explain their situation or challenge their
deportation. These people had already
travelled a long way to reach the border:
from Syria, Sudan, Afghanistan, Palestine,
Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Somalia and Cameroon.
The alarming number of testimonies
collected by Amnesty International
concerning push-backs suggests that these
practices are regularly employed by the
Greek border and coastguards and that
many refugees and asylum-seekers are
being indiscriminately denied entry to
Greece and access to protection. In April
2013, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency,
also reported that “[s]ome testimonies of
Syrians received by UNHCR, make reference
to informal forced returns (push-backs)
or attempted informal returns to Turkey.”
push-backs and
internationaL Law
Refoulement is the forcible return of an
individual to a country where they would be
at risk of serious human rights violations. it
is prohibited by international and european
law to return refugees and asylum-seekers
to the country they fled or to push them back
at the border. states have an obligation to
identify those at risk of refoulement and
thus in need of international protection
through fair and effective procedures.
collective expulsions are specifically
prohibited by eu law. a collective expulsion
is the deportation of a group of people
without looking at each case individually
and considering the individual
circumstances of each person separately.
protection from collective expulsion applies
to everyone, including irregular migrants.
push-back operations carried out by greece
deny people the right to explain their
individual circumstances and raise any
protection or other concerns. as such, they
are in breach of greece's international
obligations and eu law.
Amnesty International July 2013
3