10 FRONTIER EUROPE Human rights abuses on Greece’s border with Turkey were taken on board the coastguard vessel only to be forced back into their own inflatables once in Turkish waters. All those who claimed to be pushed back in this way reported that they were never given an opportunity to explain their situation or challenge their deportation. This is a breach of Greece’s international and regional obligations - most importantly the non-refoulement obligation as well as Greece’s domestic law. It also risks the lives and well-being of the people sent back either as a result of the manner in which they are sent back or by putting them at risk of being further sent back to a country where they may face persecution or other harm (indirect refoulement) once they are in Turkey. DIFFICULTIES ACCESSING PROTECTION IN TURKEY AND RISK OF REFOULEMENT Testimony collected by Amnesty International from returned migrants and refugees, as well as information provided by local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) show that once returned from Greece to Turkey, many are apprehended and detained, 21 although some manage to escape detection by the Turkish gendarmerie, coastguard or police. Despite some positive legislative reforms by Turkey in the field of asylum 22, most notably the adoption of the Law on Foreigners and International Protection in April 2013,23 access to asylum procedures in detention is still problematic.24 Detention facilities for irregular migrants, currently called “removal centres,” are not independently monitored.25 NGOs do not have access to detention facilities and free legal aid is very limited.26 International protection needs may go undetected or are at times ignored. 27 As a result, those in need of international protection are at risk of being sent back to transit countries or countries of origin where they may face persecution or other serious human rights abuses.28 Turkey has never lifted the geographical limitation found in the original text of the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees,29 limiting refugee status to refugees coming from member countries of the Council of Europe. Non-Europeans currently can only obtain a national protection status, which allows them to stay in Turkey on a temporary basis until they can find another country for resettlement with the help of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). In practice, this means that integration is not possible for refugees from outside of Europe; they have little access to social services or to legitimate employment.30 As a result, most live in destitution or work illegally under exploitative conditions.31 Although the new Law on Foreigners and International Protection improves access to healthcare for non-European asylum seekers in Turkey; it fails to ensure access to other rights; most importantly access to lawful employment. Most of the Amnesty International interviewees who claimed to have been pushed back from Greece to Turkey, stated that they had been detained in Turkey for periods ranging from a few days to three months in removal centres in Edirne, Aydin, Izmir and Mugla. Some of the people interviewed told Amnesty International that they feared persecution in their countries of origin. However, the majority said that they did not apply for asylum Amnesty International July 2013 Index: 25/008/2013