Greece has long been in the center of migration due to its location and its many islands where boats could stop to regroup the migrants being smuggled. It is a formidable challenge, often resulting in catastrophes but as time passes by, it is more and more evident that both the Greek authorities and European institutions are responsible for rights violations.
Greek authorities were urged on February 11 by a top European human rights official to investigate allegations of negligence in a 2023 boat accident that killed hundreds of migrants off the southern Greek coast.
The human rights commissioner for the Council of Europe, Michael O’Flaherty, referenced recent findings by Greece’s Ombudsman that concluded Greek coast guard officers were not responsible for a deadly migrant shipwreck in the Mediterranean.
In June 2023, the overcrowded fishing trawler Adriana sank in international waters off Pylos in southern Greece, killing hundreds of migrants. The government vigorously disputes the survivors’ claim that the Greek coast guard ignored the first distress calls before the ship capsized.
O’Flaherty met with five government ministers and Cabinet officials, shipwreck survivors, their attorneys, and advocacy organizations during his trip to Greece last week.
The Adriana was traveling from Libya to Italy when it sank, with an estimated 500–750 people on board. Only 104 people made it out alive, and 82 bodies were found. The remaining individuals were confined within the sinking trawler.
Last week, the government reiterated its complete trust in the coast guard’s work to safeguard Greece’s sea borders and conduct maritime rescue missions. It contended that claims made by survivors “without any reliable documentation” had been unjustly accepted in the Ombudsman’s report.
Greek Infractions
As part of “a systematic practice of ‘pushbacks’ of third-country nationals by the Greek authorities, from the Evros region to Türkiye,” the European Court of Human Rights declared on January 7 that Greece had violated the rights of an asylum seeker, a Turkish woman referenced as A. R. E.
In order to avoid a six-year prison sentence for allegedly being associated with the movement led by the late Fethullah Gülen, whom Türkiye blames for the 2016 military coup attempt, A.R.E. had left Turkey.
In 2019, A.R.E. entered Greece on May 4. She was soon arrested by Greek border guards, who took her to an unnamed police station after seizing her phone, shoes, and cash. She begged for asylum, but hours later, balaclava-clad men took her to the border between Greece and Turkey and pushed her onto an inflatable boat. She was shipped across the river to Turkey by 7:30 p.m.
After being detained in Edirne Prison, which is close to the Greek border, in Turkey, A.R.E. was later moved to Gebze Prison, which is close to Izmir.
Frontex, the European Union’s border agency, wanted to halt operations in Greece due to the country’s careless and overzealous government. Jonas Grimheden, Frontex’s fundamental rights officer, proposed the idea at the agency’s management board meeting on June 20–21, 2023.
The fundamental rights officer made the recommendation in response to the overcrowded fishing boat that capsized on June 14th, probably killing hundreds of people on board. After that, 82 people’s bodies were recovered by officials, but hundreds more were still unaccounted for. Only 104 of the estimated 750 people on board the ship were saved and made it out of the catastrophe alive.
Many people criticized the Greek government for the tragedy, arguing that they could have done more to assist the migrants on board the obviously dangerous ship. Survivors testified that the Greek Coast Guard tied up the boat and attempted to pull it before it capsized, which witnesses claimed caused the boat to sway. This action is extremely unusual in these situations.
However, it was recently discovered that FRONTEX is also accountable for the infractions, in addition to the Greek authorities.
FRONTEX’s Violations: A Detailed Report
According to a story published by Aegean Boat Reports, FRONTEX violated both their own procedural rules and asylum rights. A boat carrying 37 people—13 of whom were young children—ran into trouble deep within Greek waters on February 19, 2024, southeast of Plomari, Lesvos south.
As part of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex operation, Poseidon, the Bulgarian coast guard vessel “Balchik,” which is based on Lesvos, arrived on the scene first.The fact that the rescue boat was a Frontex ship rather than a Greek Coast Guard one gave the group a sense of relief. They were aware that the Greek coast guard would force them to return to Turkey right away, but they thought this ship wouldn’t.
The Bulgarian Frontex ship “Balchik” pulled to a safe stop, launched a rescue RIB (rigid inflatable boat, which is frequently used in these situations), and went up to the overloaded rubber boat that was drifting. The passengers yelled and waved at them, pleading for help.
Before beginning a rescue operation to move people from the rubber boat to the Coast Guard vessel, the rescue RIB’s crew would have needed to evaluate the situation
But instead of attempting to launch a rescue effort, the Bulgarian Frontex ship and its rescue RIB merely watched as the people in the rubber boat begged them for assistance. About forty-five minutes later, a Greek coast guard ship arrived on the scene, and the Bulgarian Frontex ship was told to depart without explanation by the Greek coast guard captain.
The Greek officers returned the people and the damaged vessel to Turkish waters and left them adrift. The Turkish Coast Guard eventually recovered them.
A Landmark Case in the Making
More recently, according to Euronews, a Syrian family wants to hold Frontex responsible for illegal pushbacks and human rights abuses. The agency’s operations may alter if the European Court’s ruling supports their allegations.
The EU Court of Justice’s Grand Chamber received this historic case against Frontex on Tuesday. Arguments concerning Frontex’s involvement in unlawful pushbacks were heard by the European Court in Luxembourg.
The case, which has the backing of the Dutch Council for Refugees, among others, is being pursued by attorneys from the Human Rights law firm Prakken d’Oliveira.
“The case is significant because it is the first time that the central issue is whether Frontex can be held accountable for human rights abuses at the borders. Therefore, the court’s ruling will significantly affect Frontex’s operations and border behavior,” says Lisa-Marie Komp of Prakken d’Oliveira.
For a response, Euronews reached out to Frontex’s spokesperson. The spokesperson insisted that it is the member states’ responsibility, but he did not want to go into the specifics of the case because it is still pending.
“In all of its operations, Frontex is committed to protecting fundamental rights. In order to achieve this, we implemented a number of safeguards, such as the Frontex fundamental rights monitors’ monitoring of returns, a complaints mechanism, and serious incident reporting protocols that have been modified to better address dynamic operational challenges,” Krzysztof Borowski stated.
