A historic ruling was made by the European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday, stating that Greece had unlawfully deported a woman back to Turkey. The court highlighted that the practice of so-called “pushbacks,” or summary expulsions, appeared to be systematic.
This decision, based in Strasbourg, France, has the potential to affect how Europe manages migrants at its borders, particularly as Greece and other European Union countries seek to tighten immigration controls.
The case involved a Turkish woman, referred to by her initials A.R.E., who was granted €20,000 (approximately $21,000) in compensation after the court concluded that she was wrongfully expelled in 2019 after crossing the border from Turkey into Greece. She was not given a fair chance to apply for asylum.
The court identified strong indications that during the events in question, there was a systematic practice of returning nationals from third countries by Greek authorities from the Evros region back to Turkey.
However, the court dismissed a second complaint from an Afghan man, who alleged he was illegally returned to Turkey from the Greek island of Samos in 2020 when he was just 15 years old, due to a lack of evidence.
Greek government representatives denied the allegations during the hearings, questioning the validity of the evidence and asserting that Greece’s border policies comply with international law. The UN refugee agency has called for a deeper investigation into the numerous claims of pushbacks, while major human rights organizations have described these alleged irregular deportations as a systematic practice.
Additionally, the National Transparency Authority of Greece, which oversees corruption allegations, found no evidence to support claims of bribery following a four-month investigation in 2022.
The European Court of Human Rights is an international court that addresses human rights violations committed by 46 member states of the Council of Europe, which predates both the European Union and its predecessor, the European Economic Community.
