Greece finds 38 migrants stranded near Meriç River

Yorgo Kırbaki - ATHENS

Greek police said on Aug. 15 they had found a 38-strong group of migrants inside Greek territory, away from the Meriç River, known as the Evros in Greece, and about four kilometers (2.5 miles) south of where the group had been reported to be stranded.

Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi, who on Aug. 16 visited the migrant reception center where the group were taken in northeastern Greece, said the 35 Syrians and three Palestinians were in good health, and that one pregnant woman among them had been taken to hospital for precautionary reasons.

Meanwhile, the body of a child who a group of asylum-seekers said had died of a scorpion sting while they were stranded for days on the Greek-Turkish border was buried on the islet on Aug. 13 with her mother’s consent, after being kept in water for days.

Mitarachi claimed that the islet on the Meriç River which runs along much of the land border, where the group said the young girl’s body was, was Turkish territory.

He said the group told Greek authorities they had entered Greek territory on Aug. 14 and hid for a day before sending their location details. Mitarachi added the migrants told Greek authorities they had been taken to the river by Turkish authorities, who had forced them to attempt the crossing to Greece.

“Officially the Turkish authorities arrested these migrants within Türkiye, they did not give them the right to apply for international protection, as Türkiye is bound to do by international law,” Mitarachi alleged. “To the contrary, the Turkish gendarmerie brought them to the banks of the Evros and, with the threat of the use of violence, pressured them to come to Greece.”

Tensions have simmered between the two countries over the issue of migrants, with both sides accusing the other of push backs on the border.