Greece accused of violent pushback campaign against Aegean crossings

Greece accused of violent pushback campaign against Aegean crossings

LONDON: Greece has been accused of conducting violent, illegal pushbacks of migrants and refugees trying to reach Europe. Greek forces boarded a fishing vessel in distress off Crete in October 2020, forcing 200 people, including women and children, into smaller boats and towing them into Turkish waters. In a lawsuit filed by the NGO Legal Centre Lesvos (LCL) at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), it is alleged that the fishing vessel ran into difficulties following a storm after leaving the Turkish city of Marmaris, and that it was intercepted by three Greek vessels that refused to allow it to move after its captain radioed for help. Masked commandos arrived five hours later and allegedly beat passengers while searching them and confiscating their belongings, including passports, phones and money, before forcing them onto several small rafts and towing them back to where they came from. LCL says evidence “” including GPS coordinates, geo-located pictures and videos, and phone logs from the passengers and crew “” suggests that this was a carefully orchestrated operation involving multiple Greek agencies and resources. One of the migrants on board, a Syrian who was given the pseudonym Mahmoud to protect his identity, told The