n February 1, 2021, six humanitarian organisations sent a statement to the UN Special Rapporteur, expressing their deep concern over illegal refoulement practices that appear to have been growing at an alarming rate since March 2020, in violation of Greek, European and international law. The statement was signed by the organisations ARSIS – Association for the Social Support of Youth, the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR), Hellenic League for Human Rights (HLHR ), HIAS Greece, HumanRights360 and Refugee Support Aegean (RSA).
The statement refers to a detailed report containing testimonies, incident reports and memos to Greek and international bodies from 2017 to 2020: “Illegal refoulements in Greece consist of unlawful returns without respect for formal procedures, including the non-registration of those arrested, the denial of access to asylum procedures, the theft and damage of personal items, abduction, the verbal, psychological and/or physical violence and arbitrary detention…recent reports have stated incidents that include the informal arrest of persons in the mainland (mainly Thessaloniki) and their transfer to Evros, where the refoulement is completed, even though some possessed documents proving their legal presence in Greece.”
The refoulement, or illegal return, of refugees, according to the former president of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) Lino-Alexandre Siciliano, is prohibited by Article 33 of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, also known as the Geneva Convention.
The signatory organisations add that, “there have been persistent allegations of deterrence tactics such as manoeuvres at the sea aiming to push back refugee boats and allegations of groups who after arrival, have been arbitrarily arrested on the Greek islands and later pushed back and left adrift in life rafts in the Turkish territorial waters.”
Despite these allegations however, Greece, they say, has failed to conduct a thorough investigation.
With thanks to the following organisations for contributing to this report: Generation 2.0, Greek National Commission for Human Rights, Hellenic League for Human Rights
In a state governed by the rule of law, the authorities must not illegally deport refugees and migrants from their territory, but rather, must ensure effective asylum procedures, which will protect applicants from war, anti-democratic regimes and other dangers in their countries of origin.
However, as detailed in this report, there is a wealth of evidence that provides a detailed picture of illegal deportations by Greece in violation of national and international law.
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