Pushed back – Systematic human rights violations against refugees in the aegean sea and the greek-turkish land border
November 2013
The report focuses on the barriers to accessing the territory of the European Union for people seeking international protection, and particularly on the prevailing situation at the EU land and sea borders in Greece.
It describes and analyzes the fatal consequences of the closing of the land border in the Evros region, which has led to a shift in flight routes to the Aegean sea route since August 2012. Reports of illegal push-backs of refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia and Eritrea have increased in the same period, and this pattern is also corroborated by the findings of this study.