Years of evidence and still no admission from EU Commission on Greek pushbacks

Despite years of evidence and verified reports by a senior official within the EU’s border agency Frontex, the European Commission still won’t acknowledge that Greece pushes back migrants, which is illegal under EU law.

“It is the responsibility of member states to investigate any allegations by establishing the facts,” a commission spokesperson told reporters on Thursday (16 April), when pressed on a BBC investigation on masked migrants used by Greece to violently push other migrants back across its land border with Turkey.

Many of those are masked paramilitaries in findings also supported by the Frontex’s fundamental rights officer, Jonas Grimheden.

Grimheden said an Afghan unit, operating under the supervision of three Greek officers, had robbed, stabbed and beaten a group of newly arrived migrants on 22 June 2023 at the Greek Evros river with Turkey.

The BBC investigation drew similar conclusions after obtaining internal police documents indicating how police are recruiting migrants to carry out the dirty work of forcing prospective asylum seekers back into Turkey.

The commission maintains that it is up to the Greek authorities to investigate the allegations given it cannot itself carry out any probes.

However, Athens continues to deny any wrongdoing, creating a political impasse that allows the EU executive in Brussels to sidestep responsibility for practices that breach the bloc’s Charter of Fundamental Rights.

A Greek press statement by a government spokesperson on shootings along the Greek Turkish border in 2020 was enough to convince European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen that everything is in order.

At the same time, the commission insists that border controls must be firmly rooted in the respect for fundamental rights, including a ban on illegal pushbacks even as it helps finance a Libyan coast guard.

This also comes despite Greece’s health minister openly calling for the legalisation of pushbacks of refugees and migrants, in comments made last December.

Greece has a long history of denial spanning years, as documented here, posing questions about the credibility of the commission’s commitment towards the rule of law and how and if it applies to people of colour.