Refugees ‘abandoned’ in open sea on motorless dinghies by Greek coastguard, legal group claims
A photo taken by refugees on a boat in the Aegean sea within sight of a Greek coastguard ship (left) and a German naval ship (right) last month
REFUGEES are being forced onto motorless rubber dinghies and abandoned at sea by Greece’s authorities after reaching that country’s territory, a legal group has claimed.
Reports of illegal pushbacks by the Greek coastguard have been rising since March, with migrant boats allegedly sent back to Turkey after entering Greek waters and even landing on the Aegean islands.
Now a damning report by Legal Centre Lesvos, an advocacy group based on the island of Lesbos (also called Lesvos), claims that these are not isolated incidents but part of a “policy of deterrence and violent disruption of migrant crossings” by the Greek government.
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