The Turkish interior minister on Thursday slammed Europe's treatment of irregular migrants, accusing them of being “partners in crime” in the inhumane abuse of desperate asylum seekers.
Decrying the “market of the living” seen in the Aegean Sea, Soylu wrote on Twitter: “Those responsible (for this) are irresponsible. Europe put its conscience on the shelf and (just) continues to watch..."
Referring to Frontex, the European Union border agency, which has been implicated in the abuse of migrants, he added: "Each day the European Union and Frontex bury their heads in the sand and watch, they become more partners in this crime against humanity..."
Soylu's remarks came after the Interior Ministry announced that an injured irregular migrant who was rescued by the Turkish Coast Guard off the coastal town of Kusadasi said that she and 16 other migrants had been beaten by Greek police and thrown into the sea without lifejackets.
"There was a group of 20 people in inflatable boats, they saw the Greek Coast Guard Boat in front of (Greece’s) Samos Island,” said testimony from one of the migrants, who was rescued at sea.
“They panicked and crashed into the rocks, and while one female migrant was injured in the foot, 17 irregular migrants were caught by Greek teams, and the three other people escaped."
“The hospital on Samos refused to treat their injuries, and then they were beaten by the police with their hands and eyes blindfolded,” the migrant said.
“Then were thrown into the sea without a lifejacket near Turkish territorial waters, and they managed to swim to the shore.”
- Outrage over pushbacks, supported by EU agency
Last week, in an incident that drew international outrage, at least 19 irregular migrants were found frozen to death near the Greek-Turkish border after Greek border officials stripped them of their clothes and pushed them back to Turkish territory. Greece has denied any involvement.
EU member Greece has long been criticized by human rights groups for violently detaining irregular migrants and forcibly returning them to Turkey, in violation of its human rights obligations under EU and international law.
Ankara has repeatedly urged Greece to stop illegal pushbacks, but Athens has denied engaging in the practice.
Evidence from video footage, eyewitness accounts, and international media has also implicated the EU agency Frontex in the illegal and abusive pushbacks.
According to Britain’s The Guardian and Dutch website De Correspondent, Frontex is no mere spectator to Greek pushbacks but actively helps these illegal activities.
In 2020, it was estimated that over the preceding three years, more than 70,000 asylum seekers were pushed back to Turkey by Greece.
But the EU has been unwilling to crack down on the illegal and abusive practice.
The European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE), a European network of 103 NGOs in 39 European countries, told Anadolu Agency there is an unwillingness of EU institutions to act because the general strategy is based on the prevention of arrivals of people seeking protection, regardless of the costs and consequences.
