Under pressure, Greece pledges to probe migrant pushback incident caught on video

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) – Facing growing pressure after a damning video of alleged migrant mistreatment emerged, Greece has announced it is investigating the incident, which appears to show asylum seekers – including children and at least one baby – being forcibly taken from an island and abandoned by Greek Coast Guard elements in a small raft in the open sea.

Asked about the pushback video, which was posted last week by the New York Times, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told CNN International late Tuesday: “I take this incident very seriously. It is already being investigated by my government.”

He added that it is the country’s obligation to protect its borders, which are also the external borders of the EU, and touted the government’s migrant policy.

“So I think there has been a change at the European level recognizing the need to protect our external borders while at the same time making sure that we streamline our internal migration policies, that we work together to send people back, those who have entered the European Union illegally,” Mitsotakis said.

“I can tell you that the less people we have at sea, the less risk we have of people dying at sea. And I’m very, very happy that we have significantly reduced the business, we have essentially killed the business model of the illegal smugglers,” he added.

He also accused Türkiye of pushing the migrants forward into Europe, saying this is overlooked by critics of Greece’s migrant policy. Turkish officials deny any such policy and stress their humane treatment of irregular migrants and refugees, as recognized by the UN and the West.

Last Friday, The New York Times published video footage from April appearing to show the Greek Coast Guard rounding up asylum seekers, including children, from the Greek island of Lesbos (Midilli) and abandoning them to the elements, on a raft at sea. The newspaper verified the video though geolocation and other methods and interviewed the migrants, who were rescued by the Turkish Coast Guard and sent to a facility in the coastal city of Izmir.

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