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THE OMBUDSMAN INSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF TÜRKİYE

Special Report on Pushbacks in the Aegean Sea and “Pushback” of
Human Rights

In order to identify the human rights violations
experienced by many people who are victims of
REPUBLIC OF TÜRKİYE
THE OMBUDSMAN INSTITUTION
pushback, as a result of thousands of pushback
“PUSHBACK” cases in which they were stripped of their clothes
OF HUMAN RIGHTS and pushed back and thereby left to freeze to
CAN SALI ةميخ FLOATING TENTS death, drowned after being thrown into the sea
with their hands in handcuffs, injured or killed by
firearms, left in a rubber boat with their engines,
fuel and oars removed at a point close to Turkish
territory, their boots pierced, sexually abused and
raped, beaten, subjected to torture, pushed back
with all their belongings confiscated, including
money, jewelry, cell phones, bags, IDs and
passports. The Ombudsman Institution of Turkiye
SPECIAL REPORT
JUNE 2022
has examined the allegations against the Greek
security forces. Then the Institution prepared a
special report on these allegations of violations of basic human rights, especially the
right to life. There were serious allegation of human rights violations, concrete cases of
victimization of individuals who are effectively denied access to complaint mechanisms
to report the violations.

The preparation process of the Special Report titled “Pushbacks in the Aegean Sea and
‘Pushback’ of Human Rights” started with the influx of migrants to Edirne Pazarkule
Border Gate. The data obtained as a result of the study visit held on 3 March 2020, are
included in the “Edirne Report on Migrants at the Türkiye-Greece Border”. The report,
which was announced to the public at the press conference held on 10 March 2020,
was translated into English and sent to 160 Ombudsman Institutions and 23 relevant
Human Rights Institutions.

Within the scope of the report, 18 rights including the right to life, the prohibition of
ill-treatment, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,
the right to respect for private and family life, and the right to property were detected
to be violated by Greece with 50 different pushback incidents against refugees and
immigrants. On the other hand, it has been demonstrated with concrete evidence that
Frontex (European Border and Coast Guard Agency) also participated in these actions
of Greece, while supporting many actions and condoning many of them.
In line with the findings obtained as a result of the efforts of the Ombudsman
Institution, for preparing the 492-page comprehensive report, recommendations were

2022 ANNUAL REPORT 85