Greece pushed back some 16,000 migrants in 2021

ANKARA

The Turkish Coast Guard last year rescued 23,676 irregular migrants in the Aegean Sea and Mediterranean Sea and 15,794 of them were pushed back by Greek authorities into Turkish waters.

In 2021, a total of 619 pushback incidents took place, according to data from the Turkish Coast Guard.

Thousands of people from different nations, fleeing wars and conflicts in their countries risk their lives to reach Europe, mostly through Greece, but dozens of them have perished during this perilous journey in the seas and on the land.

In many push-back incidents, Greek authorities seized irregular migrants’ belongings, ill-treated them or deflated their dinghies, before sending them back to Turkish waters.

Last year, 15 irregular migrants lost their lives while 113 people, who were involved in human trafficking, were captured by the Turkish authorities.

In 2021, the Turkish Guard managed to rescue nearly 24,000 irregular migrants in 848 incidents, up from 20,380 people rescued in the previous year

Last week, in the İpsala district of the northwestern province of Edirne, Turkish security forces found the bodies of 19 irregular migrants who were pushed back by Greek border guards which caused anger and outrage.

Amid the incident, Turkey has called for an investigation into Greek actions.

“Greece’s push-back of irregular migrants in violation of international law and human rights continue to claim innocent lives, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Feb. 4 on Twitter.

“We call on the international community to investigate Greece’s actions in violation of human rights and not to remain indifferent to these despicable acts.”

“This illegal and ruthless practice will be engraved in the memories as a shame for Europe. The EU keeps silent in the face of Greece’s cruel practices against irregular migrants and turns a deaf ear to our calls,” the ministry added.