33 migrants pushed back by Greece rescued

İZMİR

Turkish Coast Guard teams have rescued 33 irregular migrants pushed back by Greece in two operations conducted off the Aegean province of İzmir.

Initiating an operation upon notification that there was a group of irregular migrants in a rubber boat off the coast of Menderes district, the teams rescued nine irregular migrants, who were determined to be pushed back into Turkish territorial waters by the Greek forces.

Setting out to sea once again with the second notice, Coast Guard teams rescued another group of 24 migrants in a rubber boat off the Seferihisar district.

Taken to the shore, the illegal migrants were handed over to the İzmir Provincial Directorate of Migration Management.

Greece has pushed back nearly 42,000 asylum seekers between 2020 and May 31, 2022, according to a report published by Türkiye’s Ombudsman Institution.

“Some 98 percent of the pushbacks involved torture and ill-treatment, and 88 percent of the 8,000 asylum seekers who came to the Greek border were beaten up,” the report said.

The report stated that 53 irregular migrants in 2021 and 33 others in 2022 lost their lives, either drowned or froze to death, due to pushbacks.