FRONTIER EUROPE HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES ON GREECE’S BORDER WITH TURKEY Greece, on the frontier of the European Union (EU), has been a major entry point for migrants and refugees for the most part seeking to travel through to other EU countries. This report examines some of the border control practices Greece employs at its border with Turkey. Those who arrive in Greece are sometimes “pushed back” (an illegal and often-dangerous practice of returning intercepted migrants) to Turkey – either across the River Evros in the north or across the Aegean Sea. For those who are not pushed back, detention – often in appalling conditions – is the routine fate. Amnesty International acknowledges the prerogative of states to control the entry and stay of non-nationals into their territory. But the dangerous practices employed by the Greek authorities at its borders do not comply with the rights of refugees and migrants. This report calls on the Greek government to immediately halt the practice of pushbacks to Turkey. It also asks the EU and its member states to share the responsibility for refugees and migrants more equally. The report is published as part of Amnesty International’s campaign “When you don’t exist”, which aims to protect the rights of migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers across Europe. amnesty.org Index: EUR 25/008/2013 July 2013