Council Of Europe's Rights Commissioner Urges Greece To Probe Migrant Pushback Allegations

The Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights, Dunja Mijatovic, has called on senior Greek officials to investigate the claims of migrant abuse and pushback operations at the border with Turkey

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th May, 2021) The Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights, Dunja Mijatovic, has called on senior Greek officials to investigate the claims of migrant abuse and pushback operations at the border with Turkey.

"In a letter addressed to the Minister for Citizens' Protection, the Minister of Migration and Asylum, and the Minister of Shipping and Island Policy of Greece, made public today, ... Mijatović, urges the Greek authorities to put an end to pushback operations at both the land and sea borders with Turkey, and to ensure that independent and effective investigations are carried out into all allegations of pushbacks and of ill-treatment by members of security forces in the context of such operations," the Council of Europe said in a statement.

The letter, dating back to May 3 and released on Wednesday, focuses on reports of human rights violations allegedly committed by the Greek security authorities against undocumented migrants over the course of several years.

Addressing the issue of local reception center conditions, Mijatovic stressed that "action to improve the lingering substandard living conditions in the Reception and Identification Centres must not be delayed and that all appropriate standards must be met, and overcrowding prevented."

Many NGOs have raised concerns over the poor sanitation conditions in Greek reception centers, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as migrants are unable to follow social distancing measures and adhere to the World Health Organization guidelines. The situation is further complicated by the fact that over a third of residents in many camps on the Aegean islands are minors.

Since 2014, more than 1.2 million migrants and asylum seekers have entered Greece either by sea or by land, including more than 860,000 in 2015 at the height of the European Union's migrant crisis, according to data provided by UN Refugee Agency. Total migrant arrivals in 2021 stand at 2,320.