Syria refugees swim back to Turkey after Greece turns them away

A migrant swims to rescue from an island in the middle of Evros river after becoming stucked for the past two days after trying to cross from Turkey to Greece on March 01, 2020 in Edirne, Turkey [Burak Kara/Getty Images]

Three Syrian asylum seekers were left with no choice but to swim back to Turkey after Greek authorities turned them away, Anadolu Agency reported.

Syrian Refugees Fleeing Assad – Cartoon [Sarwar Ahmed/MiddleEastMonitor]

Upon receiving a distress call, Turkish coast guards headed to Aydin, where the three asylum seekers were found.

The three asylum seekers were referred to the directorate of migration in Aydin after the coast guard confirmed that they were in good health.

Amnesty International recently slammed Greek authorities for the torture, ill-treatment, and illegal pushback of migrants and refugees to Turkey.

In a report titled “Greece: Violence, lies, and pushbacks“, Amnesty reported that pushbacks, on land and at sea, sometimes involved people apprehended as far as 700 kilometres within Greek territory.

The rights group described 21 incidents that involved around 1,000 people.

Many had been subjected to violence before being transferred back to Turkey.

READ: Syrians describe closure of Idlib border crossing to aid as ‘mass murder’

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