From Turkish prisons, France accuses Greece of deportation
Greece has appealed to the European Court of Human Rights alleging deportation, the first case involving a European citizen
The French citizen who is in Turkish prisons accuses the Greek authorities of forcing them and other refugees to return to Turkey, violating her right both as a person trying to escape political persecution and her rights as a European citizen.
According to court documents seen by the Associated Press, the 32-year-old woman, who has Turkish and French citizenship, claims she and her husband were trying to leave Turkey to escape political imprisonment.
They crossed the Evros by boat in order to reach France, where the woman was born and raised. She claims that Greek officials mistreated her and sent her back. He is now in prison in Turkey.
Speaking from the cell on condition of anonymity, for security reasons, he stated that he has filed a lawsuit against Greece in the European Court of Human Rights.
According to experts, this is the first deportation case filed in court involving a European citizen.
According to Hane Beyrens, director of the European Migration Policy Institute, “it is a common secret that the Greek authorities carry out repatriations on a regular basis. But this is a unique case… Because it shows how indiscriminately the Greek authorities act and how people are affected by every background “.
The Greek authorities, according to the Associated Press, did not respond to multiple requests for comment sent to the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum, the Ministry of Civil Protection and the Greek Embassy in Paris.
However, the Greek government made a statement on Thursday afternoon after a joint investigation through information that reported another case of deportation involving two asylum seekers who were found dead on the shores of the Aegean.
In it, Notis Mitarakis stated that “Greece protects the EU’s external borders, in full compliance with international law and with full respect for the Charter of Fundamental Rights.”
It should be noted that since the beginning of the year, at least 21 refugees and migrants have lost their lives on the land border between Turkey and Greece, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), in its report on missing refugees and migrants.
The United Nations also issued a statement on Friday (February 18th) expressing concern over “increasing migrant deaths and ongoing reports of casualties at the European Union (EU) border between Greece and Turkey.”
“Such actions are inconsistent, but contrary to the commitments and requirements of states under international and regional law, the violation of the principle of non-refoulement,” said the IOM statement.
The complainant’s story
The AP has confirmed the story of the detained French citizen with the statements of her, her husband and sister in court, while interviews have been held in Paris with the sister and one of the woman’s lawyers. She has also seen her official documents, such as her French passport, French identity card and French marriage certificate, as well as emails, call logs and screenshots of texts and GPS data that the woman shared in real time with her lawyer.
Born in France to Turkish parents, the woman left France in 2013 to pursue undergraduate studies in Turkey. In April 2018, she and her husband were among dozens of students arrested and charged with belonging to Fethullah Gulen’s Organization, which the Turkish government describes as terrorist. The couple denies all charges.
The time when the mass repression of the followers of the Muslim preacher had begun, after the failed military coup in 2016. The woman was kept in prison for 11 days but was released on parole. A few months later, he was sentenced to more than six years in prison, a decision he appealed. In June 2021, her and her husband’s prison sentences were upheld by the Supreme Court. So they decided to flee, selling the family jewelry to pay the smugglers to get to Greece.
The woman’s family believed that once she arrived in Greece, a country of the European Union and part of the Schengen area, where you do not need a visa to travel to Europe, it would be safe. As the couple crossed the eastern border of Greece on the morning of October 19, 2021, and while her family waited anxiously for 90 kilometers outside their home outside Paris, the two young men sent a message on What’sApp: “We passed”.
Her family contacted the French and Greek authorities, saying the couple needed help. “They are victims of political persecution by the Turkish government. We are VERY VERY worried about them! ” they wrote in the emails they sent.
According to the lawsuit, a little later, Greek police officers stopped the couple and despite the fact that they showed her French identity card, a copy of her French passport and the French family book proving their marriage, the police officers asked them to kneel. They took their phones, power bank, clothes and food with them and cut the laces from their shoes, according to the announcement.
The woman says they were put in the back of a truck, like a “closed box” in a closed area and held for hours along with other migrants, some from Afghanistan who were barefoot. The repatriation process followed in Turkey where they were arrested and are now in prison.
“We are completely disappointed with the Greek authorities,” her sister told the AP in Paris, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We did not think he would return a persecuted person back to his persecutor.” “We are just as disappointed with the French authorities because they abandoned us,” he said.
Kathryn Bridick, a lecturer in International Human Rights and Refugee Law at Oxford University, points out that the woman’s case “shows the absurdity of Fortress Europe”. Omer Saj, the lawyer representing France, claims that his client was a victim of growing racial discrimination on Europe’s borders.