Greece to Raise Turkey’s Treatment of ‘Naked Migrants’ With the UN

Greece announced on Monday that it will bring up the mistreatment of ninety-two migrants found naked at the borders of Turkey on Saturday with the UN and European bodies.

Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarakis accused Turkey of mistreating the group of migrants. Speaking on Skai TV on Monday, he said the migrants, mainly from Afghanistan and Syria, had been “subjected to humiliating behavior” in Turkey before being pushed into Greece.

He also said that the incident had been confirmed by officers of Frontex, the European Union’s border agency. Furthermore, he added that he would discuss the issue with Csaba Korosi, president of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly, next Monday.

The UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR, has called for an investigation, saying it was “deeply distressed by the shocking reports and images.”

Mitarakis tweeted a photograph on Saturday of what he implied were some of the ninety-two migrants at the border. He accused Turkey of shameful behavior.

Türkiye's behaviour towards 92 migrants whom we rescued at the borders today,is a shame for civilisation. We expect Ankara to investigate the incident and protect at last, its borders with the EU. pic.twitter.com/JYtUG1RnzC

— Νότης Μηταράκης – Notis Mitarachi (@nmitarakis) October 15, 2022

Naked migrants boarded dinghies to cross over to Greece

Greece’s Ministry of Citizen Protection said in a statement on Saturday that, per accounts from the migrants, they had been transported to the Evros river by vehicles belonging to Turkish authorities, where they then boarded dinghies to cross over to the Greek side.

“Turkey continues to openly instrumentalize immigrants, violate human rights, [and] violate International law,” the statement continued.

Turkey has denied involvement in the incident.

“As you couldn’t find one single case of human rights violation by [Turkey], you just seek to expose [the] image of your cruelty you’ve inflicted as if [Turkey’s] done [it],” the country’s Deputy Interior Minister Ismail Catakli tweeted on Saturday.

On Sunday, Fahrettin Altun, the communications director of Turkey’s president, dismissed Greece’s claims as fake news.

“We warn Greece to abandon its harsh treatment of refugees as soon as possible, to cease its baseless and false charges against Türkiye, and to deliver the dignity of government,” Altun said on Twitter.

The official said that “the Greek machine of fake news is back at work” after the Greek minister for immigration “attempted to cast suspicion on our country by sharing false information.”