Recent footage shows the European Union’s border force violating the law by helping the Greek Coast Guard block and push back asylum seekers who reached Greek territorial waters instead of rescuing them.
GREEK FORCES PUSHED ASYLUM SEEKERS BACK
Anadolu Agency examined footage taken by Turkish authorities this June 8 in the Aegean Sea, off Ayvacik in the northwestern Canakkale province.
The footage shows European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX) naval elements along with the Greek Coast Guard violate EU law and regulations by pushing back asylum seekers who reached Greek territorial waters by boat instead of rescuing them.
FRONTEX in effect helps the Greek Coast Guard violate international law.
The FRONTEX elements can be seen blocking the boat’s way, after which Greek forces arrive and take apart its fuel tank and unlawfully push the asylum seekers’ boat back into Turkish territorial waters.
Greece’s violations of international laws, international maritime law, EU law and regulations, and the 2016 Turkey-EU agreement are being criticized for pushing back asylum seekers either from land or sea, torturing and mistreating asylum seekers, seizing their personal belongings, risking their lives, and even causing their deaths.
International media outlets have caught Greece several times pushing back asylum-seekers.
According to Britain’s The Guardian and Dutch website De Correspondent, FRONTEX is no mere spectator to Greek pushbacks but actively helps these illegal activities.
Jens Moller, a Danish staffer with FRONTEX’s Operation Poseidon in the Aegean, confirmed the media claims. On Danish radio, Moller related an incident when they told Operation Poseidon’s headquarters they had found 33 asylum-seekers seeking to reach Greece’s coast.