Greece says 1,130 migrants turned back to sea in 3 days

Turkish authorities give clothes and shoe to 35 irregular migrants pushed back by Greece, in Edirne, Turkiye on February 3, 2022 [Gökhan Balcı/Anadolu Agency]

Greece’s coast guard, on Monday, said it had prevented more than a thousand migrants and refugees from crossing its islands in boats from the nearby coast of Turkiye over the past three days, AP reports.

According to the report, it had turned back boats in 24 separate incidents, involving an estimated 1,130 people, near five Greek eastern Aegean Sea islands, with most of the interceptions occurring off Lesbos.

Last month, Turkiye called on the European Union and the international community to do more to protect human rights and the safety of migrants, pointing out that little has been done to hold Greece accountable for its push back and killing of migrants.

By last February, and over the past two years alone, over 33,000 asylum seekers had been pushed back towards Turkiye, in full view of the EU border agency, Frontex.

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