In 2020, the RVRN recorded a further increase in incidents of racist violence against refugees and migrants, as well as human rights defenders who were targeted due to their affiliation with these groups, from 51 in the previous year to 74 in 2020. Yet as noted by RVRN, ‘the restriction of movement for refugees in public spaces, in the context of measures adopted against the pandemic, combined with reduced flows, seems to [have] contribute[d] to the invisibility of the specific target group and to the reduction of recorded incidents against them […] indicat[ing] that in 2020 the Networks recordings [were], more than ever, the tip of the iceberg’.889 The same seems to apply in 2021, during which 28 incidents against refugees and asylum seekers were recorded by the network,890 indicating a decrease compared to previous years. According to RVRN, 2021 was also the first year when no incidents of organised violence by far-right groups against refugees and migrants were recorded. Yet as per the RVRN’s estimation, this was due to the conviction of the far-right Golden Dawns party as a criminal organisation in 2020. 891 The RVRN also noted that the decrease in the report of such incidents against refugees and migrants is not indicative of the wider picture of racist violence for the reporting year, given that the specific trend was observed in a period with intense racist rhetoric and institutional targeting of refugees and migrants. Amongst the possible causes of this decrease is the reduction of flows and of the number of refugees on the islands and on the mainland. The broader restrictions of movement imposed in the context of combating the COVID-19 pandemic, have been also reported as a possible cause, as these measures seemed to have contributed to decreasing the visibility of this particular population in local communities and in the quantitative trends of related incidents of racist violence.892 In 2022 the RVRN reported 33 (among 74 in total) incidents of racist violence against migrants, refugees, or asylum-seekers. Victims were targeted due to their national origin, religion, or color. One among the victims faced racist violence due to their national origin, sexual orientation, and gender identity. During the same year, there were recorded incidents of racist violence where the perpetrators were members of official and unofficial racist groups. Moreover, according to the RVRN, the specific attack pattern recorded throughout the years seems to have applied to other settings in 2021 and 2022, such as in schools. Namely, the RVRN recorded racist actions against migrants and refugees from perpetrators that acted individually in the victim’s neighbourhood, in a public service, or in a public transport. Despite their low intensity, those incidents increase the victims’ feelings of threat and insecurity and impact the bond of trust between them and the social environment. These incidents declined during the pandemic due to restrictions on movement in public spaces. However, they re-appeared during 2022.893 In 15 of the incidents recorded in 2022, as per their testimonies, the victims were subjected to verbal and physical violence and sexual assault by law enforcement officials. Among those incidents, 7 took place on Greece’s borders during the asylum seekers’ entry into the territory. In some of those incidents, the victims stated that they were detained and subjected to violence during detention. Also, the victims testified that they were subjected to violence on the borders by groups of men who reportedly wore black or military-type clothing and had guns or batons. In one case, they covered their faces with full face masks and had radio contact. In the latter incidents, the victims testified that they did not recognise any distinctive characteristics of any (Greek or international) law enforcement agency in their clothing or appearance. However, due to their equipment and modus operandi, victims perceived that their perpetrators were actors representing the state. The targeting of refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers has already been stated, according to the RVRN, by the Recording Mechanism of Incidents of Informal Forced Returns. The latter reported 51 cases where victims were subjected to verbal and physical violence, sexual assault, and theft as their perpetrators pushed them back. As per the Mechanism’s Report, in 33 cases, the perpetrators were from law enforcement authorities, and in 18, the perpetrators reportedly did not bear any distinctive mark. 894 889 890 891 892 893 894 RVRN, Annual Report 2021, 26 May 2022, available at: https://bit.ly/3IKZnGI. Ibid. UNHCR, ‘Racist Violence Recording Network: Presentation of the Annual Report for 2022’, April 6 2022, available at: https://bit.ly/42HG2xz. RVRN, Annual Report 2021, 26 May 2022, available at: https://bit.ly/3IKZnGI, 6-7. RVRN, ‘Presentation of the Annual Report for 2022’, 6 April 2022, written in Greek available at https://bit.ly/3OSKKVA. RVRN, ‘Presentation of the Annual Report for 2022’, 6 April 2022, written in Greek available at https://bit.ly/3OSKKVA. 182