Security

The undersigned civil society organisations would like to share their concerns regarding the phenomenon of illegal refoulements at the Greek-Turkish borders. A phenomenon which is ever-present and yet qualitatively and quantitatively on the rise the last few years and in particular the recent period since March 2020, which should also be read within the framework of the more restrictive policies applied on the EU level. 

Violent pushbacks continue with another incident in the Evros region on 29 December. Yet another life lost at the Aegean where a 26-year old woman drowned on 4 January. Four children were injured on 26 December when 12 armed people attacked an accommodation centre for unaccompanied refugee children in Northern Greece. Conditions in ‘Moria 2.0’ on Lesvos and the EU funded ‘new Malakasa’ construction outside of Athens are increasingly dire.