Minister alerts EU officials to incident with 92 naked migrants at Evros border
Turkish officials “have some nerve” to criticize Greece after sending to the Evros border 92 migrants who were found naked and rescued by Greek and EU border patrol Frontex officials on Saturday, Citizen Protection Minister Takis Theodorikakos said on Monday.
Responding to charges by Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu that Greece is generating “fake news” and “violating International Law” over the 92 migrants, Theodorikakos said the evidence is incontrovertible, as Frontex was present during the incident and statements provided by the migrants.
“Turkish officials have some nerve to criticize Greece for the barbaric, medieval-like behavior of the Turkish side to 92 migrants at Evros. The events have been recorded by Frontex officers and are indisputable,” the Greek minister said. “Turkey has a basic obligation to respect International Law and stop its provocations, especially in such an inhumane way.”
Theodorikakos said he had informed European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson and his 27 EU counterpart ministers of the incident in a letter, which said several of the migrants had been “beaten up and injured before being stripped.”
“It is a horrifying image, which no one could possibly accept, that is why we denounce Turkey’s behavior,” he added. “Turkey must realize it cannot continue its unprovoked violations of International Law and (must) put an end to this provocative behavior. It must comply with fundamental principles of logic and humanitarianism.”
According to the letter to the EU officials, Theodorikakos said most were Afghani nationals, and the 92 included 5 children. They had been pushed onto dinghies after their clothes and documents were removed.
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has said it was “deeply distressed” by the incident, and called for a full investigation. The incident was first reported on Saturday by the Citizen Protection Ministry, which said that the migrants told authorities they were transported to the border in three vehicles and told to board dinghies to cross over to Greek territory after being “completely abandoned naked and without any equipment,” and had boarded dinghies to cross over to Greece. [AMNA]
