Türkiye rescues over 40 irregular migrants pushed back by Greece

MUGLA/IZMIR, Türkiye

The Turkish Coast Guard rescued 43 irregular migrants Wednesday in the Aegean Sea who were illegally pushed back into Turkish territorial waters by Greek authorities.

Teams were dispatched off the coast of Dikili in Izmir province after learning of the 13 irregular migrants in a rubber boat, the Coast Guard Command said on its website.

Also, 31 irregular migrants pushed back into Turkish waters by the Greek Coast Guard were rescued from a rubber boat off Bodrum district in Mugla, the Coast Guard Command said in a separate statement.

The irregular migrants were brought to shore and taken to the provincial migration management directorate, it added.

Human rights groups and media outlets have frequently reported on illegal pushbacks and other human rights breaches by Greek authorities. Survivors of a migrant boat sinking last month where 300 - 600 migrants are feared drowned, have blamed the deadly incident on a Greek Coast Guard boat trying to tow the migrant craft into Italian territorial waters.

Türkiye and global rights groups have repeatedly condemned Greece’s illegal practice of pushing back asylum seekers and said it violates humanitarian values and international law by endangering the lives of vulnerable migrants, including women and children.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar