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Pushbacks in Greek Waters Put Lives at Risk

Border Patrol Agency has a Duty to Protect Human Rights

Mounting evidence suggests the Greek government has been secretly expelling thousands of migrants trying to reach its shores. An EUObserver article published on November 18 also suggests the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) is aware of…
An officer from the European Union’s border protection agency, Frontex, holds the arm of a migrant as they board a ferry in the port of Mytilini, Lesbos island, Greece, on Friday, April 8, 2016.
News

European Commission Should Defend Asylum Seekers' Rights

Groups File Complaint Against Abusive Migrant Pushbacks, Asylum Law in Greece

What will it take for the European Commission, as the guardian of European Union law, to use its enforcement powers against Greece over its treatment of migrants and asylum seekers? That’s the question at the heart of Oxfam and WeMove Europe’s…
The Greek Coast Guard has been accused of using rescue equipment - namely inflatable, motorless life rafts - to leave asylum seekers and migrants adrift in open water close to the Turkish sea border. May 25, 2020
News

Greece Is Still Denying Migrant Pushbacks

Prime Minister Denies Growing Evidence of Abuses by Coast Guard and Border Police

There is mounting evidence that the Greek government has in recent months secretly expelled thousands of migrants trying to reach its shores. But in a recent interview with CNN, Greece’s prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, denied the allegations once…
The Greek Coast Guard has been accused of using rescue equipment - namely inflatable, motorless life rafts - to leave asylum seekers and migrants adrift in open water close to the Turkish sea border. May 25, 2020
News

From Chaos in Moria to Despair in Athens, Greece

Refugees Live Rough on the Streets of Central Athens

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the Greek government announced that it was throwing more than 11,000 refugees out on the street, including families with children, pregnant women, and women who are alone in Greece, as well as people with…
A woman sits with her children in Victoria Square in Athens, Greece, awaiting transfer after being evicted from their place of residence, July 20, 2020.
News

Boys’ Drawings Expose Greece’s Broken Detention System

Plight of Unaccompanied Migrant Children Is Focus of New Campaign

Ibrahim, a 14-year-old boy from Somalia, was detained by Greek police for almost three months at a detention center in Amygdaleza, a police-run detention facility on the outskirts of Athens, which houses adults but has a dedicated section for…
Drawing by "Ibrahim," age 14, detained for 11 weeks. Drawing titled, "Life in and After Detention"
News

Soap: Refugees Need it Too

Basic Hygiene Not Only for Public Health But a Human Right

Soap, now more than ever, is a central part of our daily lives. But not for many refugees. I’ve been in refugee camps worldwide. This they all have in common: refugees make great efforts to keep clean, but often lack these…
People in the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos wait to use one of the few overcrowded water stations in the camp.
News

Greek Vessel Takes Syrians, Afghans to Closed Camp

Authorities State Intention to Bar from Asylum, Deport New Arrivals to Turkey

On Saturday, I sat feeling helpless as I tracked a Greek naval vessel leaving Mytilene harbor on the island of Lesbos to an unknown destination. A Syrian asylum seeker who I have been in touch with for the past two weeks was on that…
Greek naval vessel holding newly arrived asylum seekers and migrants, shortly after departing Mytilene harbor, March 14, 2020.
News

Interview: What’s Happening to Refugees in Greece

How has the situation on Lesbos changed since your last visit? When I was here in 2016, I couldn’t imagine things being worse. We saw a lawless situation in Moria refugee camp. There were around 6,000 people in the camp,…
Migrants who arrived yesterday to Greece from Turkey eat bread as they try to warm themselves at the village of Skala Sikaminias, on the Greek island of Lesbos on Friday, March 6, 2020.
News

The Greek Islands’ Forgotten Emergency

Neglect Exposes Asylum Seekers to Abuse

With national elections coming up in less than a week in Greece, the widespread public debate about the country’s economy and future is not surprising. Unfortunately, other important issues are not getting the same attention. …
A Syrian man reads inside his tent at a makeshift camp outside Moria on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece.
News

Hope for Kenya’s Forgotten Victims

Proposed Reparations Bill Chance to Compensate Post-Election Rape Survivors

This weekend, I received the sad news that Chepkorir had died. Chepkorir, whose name I have changed to protect her privacy, was raped in December 2007. The men who raped her beat her badly and she had been struggling with poor health…
News

Déjà vu on the Greek-Turkey Border

Long Past Time to Put an End to Brutal Treatment of Migrants, Asylum Seekers

Ten years ago, I documented a systematic pattern of brutal Greek border police pushbacks of migrants and asylum seekers at the Evros River border that divides Greece and Turkey. Last week, as I edited a new Human Rights Watch report, I…
Migrants that crossed the land border between Greece and Turkey are seen at the Pre-Removal Detention Center in the village of Fylakio, Northern Greece, February 24, 2017.
News

Humanitarians Released on Bail in Greece

Saving Lives at Sea Should Not Earn Time in Jail

Four humanitarian activists who had been imprisoned on baseless charges in Greece were released on bail today by an investigative judge. The authorities should now drop the ridiculous charges against them. Among those bailed…
Greece Refugee Activist
News

Misery Deepens for Trapped Asylum Seekers in Greece

EU should stop backing policy that confines people to Aegean islands

Boat migration to Greece is no longer in the headlines but the crisis for asylum seekers on the Greek islands continues. More than 18,000 asylum seekers remain trapped in overcrowded camps on the Aegean islands. The largest,…
201809europe_greece_refugees_moria
News

Greece’s Highest Court Rules to Better Protect Asylum Seekers

New Arrivals Can No Longer Be Trapped in Abuse on Greek Islands

Greece’s highest administrative court, the Council of State, ordered the government to end its policy of trapping asylum seekers on its islands and refusing to move them to safer conditions on the mainland. This ruling,…
Greece refugee in wheel chair
News

The Stories of Asylum Seekers Trapped in Greece

On EU-Turkey Deal Anniversary, Greece Should End Containment Policy

Deadly, abysmal, dire, fear-inducing, insecure, cold, violent, humiliating, unfair… I’ve used these words often over the past two years to describe the situation for thousands of asylum-seeking women, men, and children…
Zahra Mosawi, 28, from Afghanistan is trapped on Lesbos, Greece. Despite being a survivor of gender-based violence and in need of psychosocial support, she’s been unable to find help in the camp.
News

Misery for Women and Girls in Greece’s Island Paradise

Government Downplays Sexual Violence Risks in Migrant Hotspots

“Refugee women and children face heightened risk of sexual violence amid tensions and overcrowding at reception facilities on Greek islands.” This is the alarming title of the report published Friday by the United Nations…
A girl walks next to a self-made shower at a makeshift camp for refugees and migrants next to the Moria camp on the island of Lesbos, Greece, November 30, 2017.
News

No Child Should Be Left in the Cold

Greece Should Move Asylum-Seeking Kids to Safety Before Winter Starts

With 10 days to go until winter officially begins, the forecast on Mytilene predicts rain on six of them, driving winds, and temperatures as low as 4 degrees Celsius. No child deserves to sleep out in the cold, exposed to rain, snow,…
Stranded Syrian refugees carry their children through a show storm at a refugee camp north of Athens, Greece January 10, 2017.
News

Risk of Sexual Violence Around Kenya’s Repeat Election

More Protection, Support for Victims Needed

Human Rights Watch research confirms that, once again, there was sexual violence against women and girls during the most recent post-election violence in Kenya. I interviewed over 50 victims and witnesses in Mathare, Kisumu, Bungoma, and Dandora.…
Kenya
News

Police Cells Are No Place for Migrant Kids

Better Protection Needed for Unaccompanied Migrant Children in Greece

Is it ever acceptable for children to be detained in dark and dirty police cells, without access to the most basic services? Of course not. But when it comes to unaccompanied migrant children, Greek authorities appear to think the…
Unaccompanied children line up for an evening meal at a detention facility run by the Greek police.
News

European Union Court Endorses Collective Action to Help Refugees

Court ruling should encourage EU countries to relocate more asylum seekers

Hold the champagne. It’s more of a sparkling water moment. On September 6, the European Union's Court of Justice upheld the EU’s 2015 emergency plan requiring all member countries to relocate asylum seekers out of Italy and…
The entrance of the European Court of Justice is pictured in Luxembourg, January 26, 2017. Picture taken January 26, 2017.

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