17.01.2023, Legal Centre Lesvos

PRESS RELEASE: Forensic reconstruction video released today, evincing the Greek authorities’ illegal expulsion of 200 migrants off the coast of Crete in 2020

In October 2020, nearly 200 people who had departed from Turkey to seek asylum in the European Union were caught in a storm off the coast of Crete, Greece. Finding themselves in a state of emergency, the passengers made a distress call to the Hellenic Coast Guard requesting assistance. Following their emergency call, the Greek authorities illegally and violently expelled them towards Turkey, ultimately abandoning them on life rafts at sea. The case was communicated by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) to Greece in December 2021; to date, the Greek authorities have denied that the pushback took place. However, the Legal Centre Lesvos published a forensic reconstruction video, demonstrating that the Hellenic Coast Guard, instead of rescuing the approximately 200 people who were in distress at sea, violently attacked, detained, and ultimately abandoned them at sea in a massive coordinated and illegal pushback operation. read more

Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Griechenland / Türkei, Europäische Union