The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) called for an investigation into the discovery – on 14 October – of 92 completely naked migrants at the Greek-Turkey border. Asylum seekers, some of whom showed signs of beatings, were rescued by the European agency Frontex and the Greek authorities after crossing the River Evros.
After saying try “deep anguish”, UNHCR called for an investigation to clarify what happened while Athens was pointing the finger at Ankara. According to the Greek authorities, these are men coming mainly from Syria and Afghanistan, among whom there were also allegedly minors, as a spokesperson to the UN agency in Athens, Stella Nanou, told the Guardian.”We ask for a full investigation because the circumstances are unclear. We have always opposed degrading and cruel treatment and what we have seen is shocking.”
According to what was reconstructed by the Greek government, the migrants were transported to the region in three vehicles by Turkish authorities and then forced to undress before boarding some rubber boats and crossing the Evros River.
Their testimonies, contained in a statement from the Hellenic police, emerged during a joint investigation by the Greek authorities with officials from Frontex, the European Union’s border agency. There were also children among the group.
“Turkey is in a difficult position due to the incident of the 92 migrants in Evros. Unfortunately, they were subjected to humiliating treatment. I have requested and will have a meeting with the President of the UN General Assembly in New York, I informed the Commission and I we will show them pictures and videos,” said Immigration Minister Notis Mitarakis on his Twitter account, also speaking of”shame of civilization“in reference to the conditions of men.
According to the Greek minister, Turkey is using migrants astool to get public support in view of the political and presidential elections, at a difficult time for Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Fahrettin Altun, Erdogan’s top spokesman, called the allegations “baseless and unfounded”. “The Greek fake news machine is back at work,” he wrote on Twitter on Sunday, accusing Greece of wanting to “put our country under suspicion”. “Greece has once again demonstrated to the whole world that it does not even respect the dignity of these oppressed people by publishing pictures of the refugees it has deported, extorting their personal belongings,” he added.
Source: Fan Page IT
Ashley Root is an experienced business journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in economics and finance, she has a deep understanding of the inner workings of the business world and is able to provide insightful and informative analysis on a wide range of topics.
