Greek Minister for Migration and Asylum Notis Mitarachi whose country is frequently on the agenda with inhuman treatments against migrants is once again conducting perception management tactics by using the photos of stripped naked migrants for which there is no location, nor any date provided.
We are well aware of the despair Greece is facing in the international arena following the speech of our President H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan given at the UN General Assembly depicting the inhuman treatments of Greece at plain sight to the attention of the global public.
It is very apparent that Greece is trying to cover up the systematic unlawful pushbacks they have been doing routinely by confiscating all the belongings of the migrants including their money, phone, ID and passports, throwing them into the sea, by taking all their clothing and shoes, battering them naked with batons, injuring them with electro-shock devices, shooting at them with rubber bullets or putting them on worn-out lifeboats.
For years now this inhuman treatment and actions by Greece have been exhibited vis-à-vis the eyes of the whole world with images and international reports depicting punctured boats, their engines removed, migrants who have been battered and even shot at with the aim to kill. Just last month they punctured the boat of a group of migrants including babies and infants who were trying to reach Italy from Lebanon. Having lost all their valuables, these people were left to death. The 9-month-old Asım and his 4 years-old brother Abdülvahap lost their lives as a result of this inhuman treatment.
Now, Greece that fails to even provide an explanation for these actions of inhuman treatment in the global arena is trying to put the blame on Türkiye through slander and defamation. Just like they have associated themselves with murder this time, the Greek government is also associating themselves with lies and slander.
Although there has been intense pressure on Greece in the international arena with respect to their actions, Greece has not taken a step back and continues to violate human rights embodied in the European Convention on Human Rights and the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 1951 Refugee Convention. There have been violations of the right to life and ban on torture and inhuman treatment specifically among which were the use of force including violence and inhuman treatment exerted on all migrants with no discrimination even for women or children, confiscation of clothes and money of migrants seeking entry into their country and confiscation of their valuables in an unlawful manner. All of the foregoing actions are against the international law.
After the report of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) shared by many international agencies and media organs has openly highlighted that “senior staff at EU border agency Frontex, were involved in major abuses and irregularities, covering up the pushbacks [of migrants] to Türkiye, not duly investigating them and assessing the problem in a correct and sound manner; and also sharing incorrect and sided information with the EU institutions”, we cannot deem as a coincidence the fraudulent information provided by the Greek Minister to cover up this report and the violations committed by his country at the land and sea borders.
Within this context, we underline that the fact that the Greek Minister for Migration and Asylum still holds his office and continues his baseless allegations against our country, whereas the Executive Director of FRONTEX was discharged from his position during the investigations and supervisions on the pushbacks, is unacceptable and we leave this to the discretion of the public opinion.
As a result of the pushbacks of Greece, a total of 61737 migrants, of which 46840 were in the Aegean Sea and were immigrants at the Greek land border, have been subject to pushbacks since 2020. 152 migrants lost their lives as a result of these pushbacks and 200 were injured. When looking at the 2022 figures, we see that a total of 26363 migrants, of which 21770 were in the Aegean Sea and 4593 were at the Greek land border, have been subject to pushbacks. 59 migrants lost their lives as a result of push-backs, namely 21 in the Aegean Sea and 38 at the Greek land border. Besides, 54 migrants were injured due to the pushbacks, 5 in the Aegean Sea and 49 at the Greek land border.
We call upon Greece that has yet to account for the drowned babies in the Aegean Sea to end the inhuman treatments against migrants and the migration policy that results in deaths.
Furthermore, as a country, which has upheld international rules even for irregular migrants with no discrimination and conducted a humanitarian approach regarding migration policy, we solemnly deny the use of the name Türkiye together with Greece that has been closely followed by the whole world for years with their inhuman treatments towards migrants.