In parallel, the figures on the number of entries of each year, including 2024, may under-represent the number of people attempting to enter Greece or that found themselves on Greek territory, given that cases of alleged pushbacks have been reported as a systematic practice in recent years. The persisting practice of alleged pushbacks has been reported inter alia by UNHCR, IOM, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants the Council of Europe Commissioner and civil society organisations. It also was recently confirmed by the ECtHR in its first decision concerning a pushback. 42 Lastly, as reported by UNHCR, 43 125 persons were reported as having gone dead or missing during the year. These numbers, proportionately to the number of arrivals, highlights an ongoing dark trend, observed since 2021, with more than 1 in a 100 persons trying to reach safety in Greece and the EU, ends up dying and missing.44 The only other time in recent memory when such a shocking number of people were reported dead and missing during their effort to reach safety in the EU, except the high number of 2023, was in 2015 (799 dead and missing), during which UNHCR reported more than 860,000 arrivals.45 Finally, and regarding the crossing and arrivals in the Mediterranean, and as transpires from the preliminary data issued by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX) on 14 January 2025,46 there has been a major decrease in the number of recorded irregular crossings in the Mediterranean. In particular, there was a 59% decrease in the number of recorded crossings on the Central Mediterranean route in 2024 compared to the previous year. According to data published by the International Organisation for Migration’s (IOM) Missing Migrants Project, 47 2,333 people on the move were recorded as dead or missing in the Mediterranean in 2024 compared to 3,155 in the previous year (26% decrease). Of the 2,333 people included in the IOM statistics in 2024, 1,699 (73%) died or went missing on the Central Mediterranean route (33% decrease compared to 2023). The three main causes that lead to those deaths, according to the statistics provided by IOM, are linked to hazardous transport, drowning and harsh environmental conditions and lack of adequate shelter, food and water. Those macabre trends and findings may also further indicate the increasingly dangerous journeys people seeking safety in Greece and the EU have to take, in the absence of safe and legal pathways and amidst systematically reported pushback practices. The historical decision of A.R.E. v. Greece (Application no. 15783/21): First judgement on a pushback case of an asylum seeker from Evros to Türkiye by the Greek Authorities On 7 January 2025, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) published its judgment in the case of A.R.E. v. Greece (Application no. 15783/21), 48 which was legally represented by lawyers of the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR).49 This is the first case ever examined by the ECtHR in relation to a complaint 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 ECthR, A.R.E. v. Greece (Application no. 15783/21), 7 January 2025, available in French here. More information is provided below. UNHCR, Greece Sea arrivals Dashboard - December 2024, available here. As per the same data published by UNHCR, the number of arrivals in 2021 stood at 9,157, in 2022 at 18,780, in 2023 at 48,721 and in 2024 at 62,118. During the same interval, 115 persons were reported dead and missing in 2021, 343 in 2022, 799 in 2023 and 125 in 2024. Proportionally to the number of arrivals, this means that the rate of dead and missing in 2021 stood at roughly 1.3%, in 2022 at 1.8%, in 2023 at 1.6% and 0,2% 2024. UNCHR, Operational Portal, Mediterranean Situation: Greece, available at: https://bit.ly/3WubNsb. FRONTEX, News Irregular border crossings into EU drop sharply in 2024, published on 14 January 2025, available here. IOM Missing Migrants Project-globally, available here. ECtHR, A.R.E. v. Greece (Application no. 15783/21), 7 January 2025, available in French here. ECtHR Press Release, “Pushback” of Turkish national to Türkiye without examining risks she faced on her return was in breach of Convention, 7 January 2025, available here ; GCR Press Release, ECtHR Judgment v. Greece - Greece condemned for the first time by the European Court of Human Rights for a pushback in Evros, 7 January 2025, available here. See also, Video of the Press conference held by GCR, 16 January 2024, available here. 32