Reports that Greece has placed some asylum seekers into tented inflatable rafts without motors or paddles and towed them towards Turkish territorial waters offer the latest evidence of the difficult conditions facing those seeking to reach Europe’s shores, as well as ongoing brinksmanship between Greece and Turkey over migration.

Encounters with such rafts were logged 11 times by the Turkish Coast Guard and nongovernmental organizations between March 23 and May 22, raising questions whether these actions violate international protection and human-rights standards. Greece has been accused of illegal pushbacks before, with reports that some arriving asylum seekers are being stripped of their documents and personal belongings and then forced back into Turkey. The Greek Ministry of Migration and Asylum denies the reports.

An agreement the European Union and Turkey struck in 2016, amid a massive surge in arrivals of Syrians and others, was meant to deter migrants from setting off from coastal Turkey in route to the Greek islands and hoped-for movement deeper into Europe. Complaining that European leaders had failed to live up to their end of the bargain, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan upended the deal in February, encouraging tens of thousands of migrants in Turkey to head towards the Greek land border, where they were met with tear gas, water cannons, and stun grenades.

On March 1, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced his country would temporarily refuse to accept asylum applications—a move at odds with European and international law. “The borders of Greece are the external borders of Europe. We will protect them,” Mitsotakis tweeted. The suspension of the asylum procedure ended on April 1 but was renewed through May 18 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. When the system reopened, the Greek government began processing new applications and granted a six-month extension to refugees holding current residence permits.

Tensions between the Greek and Turkish governments continue, with guards at the shared border at the Evros river on high alert recently over reports of a possible new surge of irregular migrants. The Greek government is responding with construction of new fencing at the river and the deployment of more law enforcement and resources.

Greek officials are closely watching to see if Turkey permits new onward movement by migrants, though reports suggest no organized plan at present. Though the coronavirus lockdown pushed the dispute aside for a brief while, tensions appear to be reheating—and asylum seekers and migrants immobilized by the pandemic may soon be on the move again.

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Editor, Migration Information Source