GREECE has designated Turkey as a “safe” country for asylum-seekers from Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Somalia.

The Greek Foreign and Migration Ministries said today that refugees from those countries would be safe in Turkey. 

“They are not in any danger [there] … due to their race, religion, citizenship, political beliefs or membership in some particular social group, and can seek asylum in Turkey instead of in Greece,” they claimed.

However, despite pressure from the European Union and Athens, Ankara has shown little appetite for taking back migrants who reached Greece from its territory.

On Sunday, Aegean Boat Report (ABR) issued its 451st account of the Greek authorities forcibly returning people to Turkey since 2017.

According to eye-witness testimony gathered by ABR, 49 people, including 17 children, landed on Lesbos on May 28 before police detained them, beat anyone who did not hand over their belongings, placed them in life rafts and abandoned them in Turkish waters.