2. PUSHBACKS
AS AN ESTABLISHED
POLICY
2.1. Definition of Pushbacks
“Pushbacks” is the illegal state practice
of informally and forcefully removing a
person or a group of persons out of the
country’s territory without assessing their
claims for entry or protection.1 Pushback
operations take place both at land and
sea borders and can be conducted not
only during the crossing of the border,
but even after the arrival of the individual
or the group to the territory.
The Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants defines “pushbacks” as “various measures taken by
States which result in migrants, including asylum seekers, being summarily forced back to the country from
where they attempted to cross or have
crossed an international border without
access to international protection or
asylum procedures or denied of any individual assessment on their protection
needs which may lead to a violation of
the principle of non-refoulement”.2
Pushbacks are also known as illegal
forced returns, illegal collective expulsions, illegal refoulements, illegal forced
removals. However, these are all ways
to describe the unlawful practice of informally removing a person or group
of persons from a country to another
without applying legal frameworks and
procedural safeguards. 3 Pushbacks are
in violation of the main principle of asylum and refugee law, the principle of
non-refoulement.
In particular, according to Article 33 (1)
of the 1951 Refugee Convention:
No Contracting State shall expel or
return (‘refouler’) a refugee in any
manner whatsoever to the frontiers
of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular
social group or political opinion.4
The principle of non-refoulement is part
of Directive 2013/32/EU of the European
Parliament and of the Council on common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection. The
Court of Justice of the European Union
(CJEU) has also recognized the principle
of non-refoulement, specifically under
1
See relatively the definition of “pushbacks” provided by ECCHR, European Center for Constitutional
and Human Rights, available at: https://www.ecchr.eu/en/glossary/push-back/
UN Human Rights Council, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Report on means to
address the human rights impact of pushbacks of migrants on land and at sea, 12 May 2021, available at: https://
bit.ly/3GRU0nt
2
Note from the authors: The term “pushback” is going to be used throughout the Report in order to
describe the aforementioned practice of illegal forced removals from the Greek territory.
3
The principle of non- refoulement has been reaffirmed in a series of international conventions, among
others the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted
on 10 December 1984 by the General Assembly resolution 39/46 prohibits refoulement in Article 3, according
to which: “No State Party shall expel, return (“refouler”) or extradite a person to another State where there are
substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture.” According to UNHCR,
the principle of non-refoulement has become a norm of customary international law.
4
AT EUROPE’S BORDERS: BETWEEN IMPUNITY AND CRIMINALIZATION
5