ABTTF President: “When we look at the events in Evros and the pushbacks in the Aegean Sea, the view that our country’s attitude towards asylum seekers is disregarding international law and its inhumane practices are the result of a conscious policy is getting stronger. Our country should get rid of the mentality of conducting policies based on denial or manipulation as soon as possible and should be based on the facts not only on the issue of refugees, but also on all its actions at home and abroad.”
In a special report on 12 September 2022, Deutsche Welle wrote that Greece may have lied as regards the incident in which 38 asylum seekers, Syrians and Palestinians, were stranded for weeks on an islet on the Evros River, which forms the border between Türkiye and Greece, despite the requests from the asylum seekers for help.
A group of 38 asylum seekers, including children and women, were stranded in a military zone near the Greek village of Kissari in the Evros River on the Turkish-Greek border, and asylum seekers called for help via location and video messages sent on their mobile phones. Human rights organisations reported the location, photos and messages sent by the asylum seekers to the Greek police, but Greece stated that they proceeded to examinations using all technical means at their disposal but could not find the location of the group. Later, Greece indicated that the asylum seekers were present on Turkish soil and that the Turkish authorities had been informed of the situation. An evacuation operation was carried out on 15 August for the asylum seekers who had been on the islet in the Greek military zone since July.
Deutsche Welle notes that Greece may have lied about the islet crisis. In order to stop irregular migration, Greece has expanded its Automated Border Surveillance System, which consists of modern technologies such as drones, sensors and cameras, to monitor its borders with the financial support of the EU. According to the report, one of the border observation towers is only two kilometres away from the islet where the asylum seekers are located, and the system should detect the asylum seekers when the official data on the technology used is considered. That is why the view that Greece may have lied in the islet crisis is getting stronger.
“Our country, Greece, is implementing its policy attitude towards ignoring or manipulating the facts in every area. As we saw in the islet crisis, our country is trying to convince the international community of a manipulative reality by ignoring the human right to life in violation of international law. However, Deutsche Welle’s research shows that asylum seekers on the islet could have been rescued much earlier with the newly developed surveillance system. So the truth may not be what our country says! When we look at the events in Evros and the pushbacks in the Aegean Sea, the view that our country’s attitude towards asylum seekers is disregarding international law and its inhumane practices are the result of a conscious policy is getting stronger. Our country should get rid of the mentality of conducting policies based on denial or manipulation as soon as possible and should be based on the facts not only on the issue of refugees, but also on all its actions at home and abroad”, said Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF).
*Image: www.anadoluimages.com
