The UN on Monday called for an urgent investigation into the discovery of 92 naked refugees on the Greek-Turkey border, saying it was “deeply distressed” by the group’s images.
The undocumented migrants, all men, mainly from Afghanistan and Syria, were found by Greek police on Friday (14) near the land border between the two countries, after crossing the Evros River in rubber boats. There were children in the group.
Some had signs of wounds on their bodies, said UNHCR, the UN refugee agency. “We are calling for a full investigation because the circumstances are unclear,” said Stella Nanou, a spokeswoman for UNHCR in Athens. “We have always been against degrading and cruel treatment and what we have seen is shocking.”
The group received clothing, food and first aid and has been detained at the border police facilities since Saturday. It is due to be transferred in the next few days to the Fylakio reception and identification center, near Orestiada, the northernmost city in Greece, where UNHCR staff will receive them.
The men testified that they were taken to the border in three Turkish military vehicles before being forced to remove their clothes to board the inflatable rafts, Greek police said. The testimonies were given during a joint investigation conducted by the Greek authorities with officials from Frontex, the European Union’s border agency.
Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi said in a tweet on Saturday that Turkey’s treatment of migrants was a “shame on civilization”. He said Athens hopes Ankara will investigate the incident.
Turkey, in turn, denied involvement in the episode. “As you have not been able to find a single case of human rights violations by Turkey, you only seek to expose the image of your own cruelty as if Turkey had done it,” Turkish Deputy Interior Minister Ismail responded to the accusation on Twitter. Catakli.
Amid the exchange of accusations between the sides, Greek Minister of Citizen Protection Takis Theodorikakos said that Athens will soon build a 40-kilometer fence along its northern border with Turkey to prevent migrants from entering the country. country.
Furthermore, Greece has asked Turkey to respect a 2016 agreement with the European Union, in which Ankara agreed to stem the flow of migrants to Europe in exchange for billions of euros in aid. Turkey claims to have stepped up measures to prevent people smuggling.
Athens is regularly accused by NGOs and different journalistic investigations of carrying out violent illegal expulsions on its land and sea border with Turkey. For its part, the refugee rights organization Mare Liberum said on Sunday (16) that in the Evros region, human rights crimes are systematic and committed daily by both Turkey and Greece.
Recently, the UN expressed concern about the way in which some States have treated refugee rights activists. In a report published in July, which addresses situations at the Greek-Turkish border, it states that “many governments are failing in their moral and legal obligations to protect those who refuse to fail to defend the rights of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.” . This is mainly due to a lack of political will.”
The study calls on governments to provide a safe environment for activists and not treat them as threats to national security.
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