REPORTS
8 Turkish dissidents in search of asylum allegedly illegally repatriated by Greek authorities
According to an investigation by Solomon and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), the UNHCR sent a letter on April 1, 2022 to the Greek authorities, seeking assurances that eight Turkish citizens (seven ex-servicemen and a teacher) “will have proper access to the asylum process and will be protected from refoulement.” The Turkish nationals in question had arrived in Samos a few days earlier, with the intention of seeking asylum due to political persecution in their country.
The High Commissioner’s letter was sent to the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Civil Protection, Shipping, and Immigration and Asylum. However, no Greek Authority responded to the international organisation. According to the letter, on the morning of March 26, 2022, close relatives of the Turkish asylum seekers contacted the High Commission in order to inform them of the arrival of their relatives in Samos. Addressing the Greek authorities, the High Commission gave the details (name, date of birth) of the Turkish citizens, of whom the oldest was born in 1970 and the youngest in 1991.
The families gave the location coordinates of the eight asylum seekers, and asked for the UNHCR’s assistance to ensure that they would have access to the asylum process in Greece, “due to fear of persecution in their country of origin due to their social and political profile.”
Despite the international agency’s call for these asylum seekers to be given access to international protection procedures, Solomon and BIRN’s investigation indicates that the Turks were pushed back into Turkey, and eventually arrested by Turkish authorities on March 28. In fact, their relatives lost contact with the asylum seekers on March 26.
According to the letter, the attorney for the families informed the international organisation that the eight Turks had been picked up by the authorities in Samos and had been forced to board a Greek Coast Guard vessel and transported back to sea, where they were located and arrested by the Turkish authorities, and subsequently brought to trial.
In November 18, 2022, seven of the eight Turks were in prison having been convicted of involvement in the Gülen movement, which the Turkish authorities prosecute as a terrorist organisation. Only one of the Gulenists, the teacher, avoided prison and is being held under strict restrictive conditions.
After the return and arrest of the Turkish nationals, their lawyer, Anthimos Sideris, testified before the National Transparency Authority, where he presented in writing the testimony of one of the eight prisoners, describing their pushback by the Greek Authorities.
The Ministry of Shipping has commented that no trace of the incident could be found.
The refoulement of refugees is prohibited by article 33 of the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees, also known as the Geneva Convention. In February 2022, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees announced that the High Commissioner had recorded almost 540 incidents of refoulements at the Greek sea and land borders since the beginning of 2020.
In a state governed by the rule of law, the authorities must not illegally repatriate refugees and immigrants from their territory. Within the framework of international law, Greece must ensure effective international protection procedures to protect applicants from war, illiberal and undemocratic regimes and other risks in their countries of origin.
As the UNHCR notes, European law mandates that border surveillance measures must be implemented in full compliance with human rights and refugee law, including the 1951 Convention. States must honour their commitments and respect fundamental human rights, such as the right to life and the right to asylum.
This incident adds to the evidence of systematic pushbacks being practised by the Greek authorities, in violation of international law and the rule of law.
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