Greece denies new report of brutality to migrants, including claim dozens were left to die at sea

Athens, Greece — Greece on Monday denied a new report accusing its coast guard of brutally preventing migrants from reaching Greek shores, which also alleged the practice had led to dozens of deaths.

A BBC report said 43 migrants had been determined to have drowned, including nine who were thrown overboard, in 15 incidents off the Greek islands in the eastern Aegean Sea between 2020 and 2023. It cited interviews with eyewitnesses, following reports from the media, charities and the Turkish coast guard.

Greek government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis insisted there was no evidence to support the allegations.

“It is our understanding that what is being reported is not proven,” he said at a regular news conference when asked about the claims. “All complaints are examined and, in the end, the relevant conclusions are made public.”

Greece is a major gateway for migrants from the Middle East, Africa and Asia seeking a better life in the prosperous European Union. Thousands of people arrive in the country each year, most on small boats from neighboring Turkey. Relations with Turkey are often tense and the coast guards of both countries have exchanged repeated accusations of mistreatment of migrants.

Migrant charities and human rights groups have repeatedly accused Greece’s coast guard and police of illegally preventing arriving migrants from applying for asylum through returning surreptitiously to Turkish waters. Greece has angrily denied this, arguing that its border forces have saved hundreds of thousands of migrants from sinking ships.

The country’s reputation suffered a new blow in June 2023, when a fishing boat with about 750 people on board sank. off southwest Greece. Only 104 people survived, despite the Greek coast guard following the ship for hours, and the survivors stated The fishing boat sank after a failed attempt by the coast guard to tow it. The Greek authorities again denied these accusations.

The new BBC report included a Cameroonian man’s claim that he and two other migrants were detained by masked men, including police, just after landing on the island of Samos.

The man claimed that the three were put on a coast guard boat and thrown into the sea, and that the other two men drowned as a result.

The report also cited a Syrian man who said he was part of a group detained at sea by the Greek coast guard off Rhodes. He said survivors were placed in life rafts and abandoned adrift in Turkish waters, where several died after a life raft sank before the Turkish coast guard came to pick them up.

Marinakis said “it is wrong to target” the Greek coast guard. “In any case, we monitor every report and investigation, but I repeat: what is mentioned (in the BBC report) is in no way supported by evidence,” he said.