Geneva, Feb 21 (AFP/APP): The UN refugee chief voiced alarm Monday at increasing violence against refugees and migrants at European borders, warning that rights abuses and illegal pushbacks across frontiers risked becoming “normalised”.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi criticised the growing number of incidents of abuse targeting people trying to cross borders into various European countries, including several that have cost lives.
“Violence, ill-treatment and pushbacks continue to be regularly reported at multiple entry points at land and sea borders, within and beyond the European Union despite repeated calls … to end such practices,” he said in a statement.
He highlighted in particular the consistent reports coming from Greece’s land and sea borders with Turkey, pointing out that the UN refugee agency UNHCR had recorded nearly 540 reported incidents of informal returns by Greece since the start of 2020.
“Disturbing incidents are also reported in central and southeastern Europe at the borders with EU member states,” Grandi said.
Many incidents of illegal pushbacks and abuse are never reported, but the UN refugee chief said his agency had nonetheless spoken with thousands of people across Europe who had experienced such practices, revealing “a disturbing pattern of threats, intimidation, violence and humiliation.”
– ‘Horrific practices’ –
“At sea, people report being left adrift in life rafts or sometimes even forced directly into the water, showing a callous lack of regard for human life,” he said, pointing out that at least three people are reported to have died in such incidents since September 2021 in the Aegean Sea, including one in January.
“Equally horrific practices are frequently reported at land borders, with consistent testimonies of people being stripped and brutally pushed back in harsh weather conditions.”
With few exceptions, European states have failed to investigate such reports, Grandi said, lamenting that instead of rectifying the problem, authorities are busy erecting walls and fences to make it even harder for refugees and migrants to cross.
UNHCR had also received reports of that “some refugees may have been returned to their country of origin, despite the risks they faced there,” Grandi said.
He warned that such practices could violate the international legal principle of non-refoulement which forbids states from returning refugees to countries where they could be in danger.
The Greek government has always denied carrying out illegal pushbacks of migrants.
Mitarachi voiced surprise at Grandi’s comments, saying that “Greece protects the external borders of the European Union, in total compliance with international law and in full respect of the charter of fundamental rights”.
Greece cannot solve the migration crisis alone, he stressed, calling for urgent “more tangible support and greater commitment at an EU level and from member states, particularly with relocations”.
The UN refugee chief stressed that people have a right to seek asylum, and that right does not depend on the mode of their arrival to a country.
He said that walls and fences are unlikely to serve as a deterrent for people fleeing war and persecution.
But they would surely “contribute to greater suffering of individuals in need of international protection, particularly women and children, and prompt them to consider different, often more dangerous routes and likely result in further deaths.”
“We fear these deplorable practices now risk becoming normalised, and policy based,” Grandi said.
“What is happening at European borders is legally and morally unacceptable and must stop.”
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