Migrants seeking landfalls in Europe are being met with aggression, degrading treatment and physical violence on Greece’s Aegean islands, according to witness accounts compiled by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Testimonies range from stories of beatings, being handcuffed, and strip-searched to migrants having their possessions confiscated, and being forcibly sent back to sea.
The MSF report — “In plain sight: The human cost of migration policies and violent practices at Greek sea borders” – records accounts gathered by the international NGO’s medical teams on the Greek islands of Lesvos and Samos between August 2021 and July 2023.
The report comprises testimonies by 56 patients, plus MSF-related medical data and observations. The report amounts to a stark revelation of the bleak welcome people desperately seeking refuge in Europe received.
Many of the arrivals fleeing violence and persecution in their own countries had undertaken dangerous, often traumatic, journeys to get as far as the Greek islands. Some recounted how they had met with violence even before reaching the shore.
“As soon as we entered Greek waters, a small grey boat came in our direction,” Fatima related. * “A man dressed all in black, his face covered, jumped onto our boat. He had a stick and started beating the person in front of him. Then he pulled off the [outboard] engine and dropped it in the water. We were left in the middle of the sea with no engine.”
Other MSF patients described how, arriving on Lesvos or Samos in small boats, they were intercepted by uniformed individuals and/or unidentified masked men and were subjected to degrading and violent treatment. Some had their wrists or ankles bound with plastic cable ties, were beaten with batons and sticks, were verbally abused and forced to undergo intrusive body searches in front of strangers.
Elisabeth* described how people in her group, including a pregnant woman, had been handcuffed and beaten.
Some MSF patients reported how their possessions, including mobile phones, money, and medications, had been confiscated before being forced onto boats and taken back out to sea, where they were transferred onto life rafts and cast adrift, victims of the illegal practice known as pushbacks.
In the past two years, MSF teams on Lesvos and Samos have provided medical assistance to 7,904 people, 1,520 of them children. Many of the new arrivals were in a state of emotional distress, in addition to being worn out, wet, thirsty and hungry, and suffering from exposure to extreme heat or cold. Others showed evidence of injuries and bruising, ostensibly acquired while escaping from violence.
MSF medics treated 557 people for physical injuries while MSF mental health teams provided 8,621 psychological and psychiatric consultations. Some patients suffered post-traumatic stress disorder as a direct result of their experiences of arriving in Greece. Those treated by MSF included women in advanced stages of pregnancy, newborn babies, unaccompanied minors, and elderly people.
Most had fled countries with a high prevalence of violence and persecution, according to Sonia Balleron, MSF’s head of mission in Greece. “Many survived horrific journeys, including suffering war injuries, sexual violence and trafficking. For these already vulnerable people, violence or mistreatment at the border further aggravates the medical and psychological consequences of their horrific experiences.”
Amidst all this, civil society organisations and aid agencies trying to provide assistance to vulnerable people on the Aegean islands have encountered difficulties such as finding their actions blocked by authorities or facing the risk of prosecution.
Dr Christos Christou, MSF’s international president, has urged the Greek government and European leaders to act immediately to ensure that individuals seeking protection in Greece are treated “with humanity and dignity”. There must be an immediate end to the climate of impunity for those perpetrating violence against people seeking protection, “in compliance with European and international law,” he said
Dr. Christou also called for “a permanent end to pushbacks at borders, for an independent monitoring system to be set up on the Aegean islands, and for search and rescue operations to be stepped up at sea.” People in need of protection “should be granted access to fair asylum procedures and medical and humanitarian assistance on arrival,” he declared.
*Names changed to protect identity.
