Greece, behind the scenes, pushed out a thousand of migrants from the shore and illegally deserted them at sea, says a report by the New York Times.
Greek officials desolated atleast 1,072 refugees- mostly Syrians fleeing the conflict in their country- in 31 separate occasions since March, says report. According to it they were forced onto damaged boats or were abandoned in their boats with disabled engines.
Based on the evidence the Times prepared a report from multiple source, including academic researchers, the Turkish Coast Guard, and Independent watchdogs groups.
“I left Syria for fear of bombing- but when this happened, I wished I’d died under a bomb.” Najma al-khatib, a 50-years-old Syrian teacher told The Times.
She explained how they were treated by the Greek officials and went further by saying that she and 22 others were forced onto a “Rudderless, motorless life raft” and left them in the Sea. Later they were rescued by the Turkish Coast Guard.
The tension going between Turkey and EU have escalated its influence till the borders which was seen in the defence when Greek borders was strengthened by seeing the threat from Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier this year had released hundreds of thousands of refugees into Europe.
The experts are of opinion that this kind of behavior toward them is illegal. However, the Greek negates the claim.
Former United Nations special rapporteur on human rights of migrants and professor of law at the Faculty of Law at McGill University, Francois Crepeau, told The Times that “these type of dissertation is illegal in all their aspect.”
Whereas Greek government spokesperson Stelios Petsas says “Greek authorities do not engage in clandestine activities”. Further the authorities say, “when it comes to abiding by the international law, conventions, and protocols, the Greece has proven its track record on it including treatment to refugees and migrants”.
