Greece and Turkey are trading accusations of inhuman treatment, following the discovery of naked and injured migrants at the border between the two countries.
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Naked, in some cases injured. Forced to cross the Evros river from Turkey into Greece. Ninety-two migrants were found at the border between the two countries by Greek authorities, according to whom the individuals stated that they had been transported to the border by three Turkish military vehicles.
"Our officers reported that the migrants were found without clothing and that some of them had visible injuries," confirmed Paulina Bakula, spokesperson for the European agency responsible for monitoring external borders, Frontex.
A series of photographs circulated on social networks sparked outraged reactions around the world. Starting with the United Nations, which stressed its "profound dismay" at the images. Meanwhile, the Greek government's Minister of Civil Protection, Takis Theodorikakos, described it as an inhuman spectacle. The Greek government itself did not hesitate to point the finger at Turkey, asserting that it was Turkish soldiers who forced the migrants to remain naked. The Minister for Migration, Notis Mitarachi, in particular described it as a "disgrace to civilisation".
A version of events that was, however, firmly rejected by Ankara. The Turkish presidency published a series of messages on social networks (in English, Greek and Turkish) in which it turned every accusation back on its sender. Hitting back hard: "We call on Greece to abandon as soon as possible its inhuman attitude towards refugees, to put an end to the false and unfounded claims against us," declared the communications director of the Turkish presidency, Fahrettin Altun.
The majority of the migrants, primarily of Syrian and Afghan origin, confirmed to Frontex officers that they had been transferred by Turkish soldiers.
It must be said, however, that Greece is also systematically accused by non-governmental organisations and journalistic investigations of having illegally pushed back groups of migrants to Turkey, at times violently. There are even suspicions that some of them were deliberately abandoned on rubber dinghies in Turkish territorial waters. And Frontex itself is under investigation following the publication of a report by the European Anti-Fraud Office criticising the conduct of certain agency officials, accused of having concealed the illegal pushbacks of migrants from Greece to Turkey.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) condemned what it described as "inhuman and degrading methods" and called for a thorough investigation to be opened into the matter.