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The consequence of the EU-Turkey Deal
WatchTheMed Alarm Phone documents illegal push-back operation in the Aegean with Frontex present
„The Turkey-deal is that inhumane: This was a brutal and illegal push-back operation by the Greek Coastguards, and Frontex watched” – this is how the WatchTheMed Alarm Phone summarized the incident that took place in the early hours of the 11th of June, near the Greek island of Chios. The hotline project to support boat-refugees reconstructed the events through direct exchanges with those affected. GPS-data proves the journey and the position of the boat on the Greek side of the maritime border. Photos that were secretly taken with mobile phones document this unlawful push-back.
53 refugees, including 14 children had left from Cesme/Turkey on a rubber dinghy and moved toward Chios. Within Greek territorial waters they were stopped by a vessel of the Greek Coastguards. Those seeking protection, among them refugees from Syria, Iraq and Eritrea, were then forced at gunpoint to transfer onto a boat of the Turkish Coastguards and were then returned to the Turkish coast. “This whole incident occurred in the presence of two Frontex vessels and demonstrates once more the direct involvement of the European border agency in grave and inhuman practices”, said WatchTheMed Alarm Phone and calls on those politically responsible to cease these inhuman practices immediately.
