World

Council of Europe Urges Greece to Stop Migrant Pushbacks

Published MAY 7 2025

Story

Above: A coastguard boat arrives at the port of Kalamata, carrying the bodies of victims who lost their lives after a boat carrying dozens of migrants sank in the Ionian Sea, in Kalamata town, Greece, on June 15, 2023. Image credit: Menelaos Myrillas/Contributor/SOOC/AFP via Getty Images

The Facts

The Council of Europe commissioner for human rights, Michael O'Flaherty, has called on Greece to adopt a "zero-tolerance approach to summary returns, ill-treatment, arbitrary detention, and other serious human rights violations" against migrants coming to the country.
COE
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The intervention follows O'Flaherty's visit to the country in February, where the commissioner raised concerns with Greek officials about summary returns, the quality of migrant reception facilities, and the rights and living standards of Roma communities in Greece.
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JURIST
EuroNews
O'Flaherty stated he was "concerned" about the situation and forwarded several recommendations, including ending alleged human rights abuses against migrants, investigating all abuse allegations, and guaranteeing access to individualized procedures.
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EuroNews
In response to the commissioner's memorandum, Hellenic Police said that its officers were only involved in the "lawful prevention of illegal border crossings" from Turkey to Greece and that there was "no systematic practice or operational planning of informal returns."
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ABC News
The memorandum follows the release of "No Beds, No Light, No Rights," a report exposing the widespread use of police stations as makeshift detention centers and documenting poor conditions and human rights abuses based on 31 testimonies from 25 Greek police departments between January 2020 and February 2025.
Faculty of Law
LAW
Coinciding with O'Flaherty's comments, the Hellenic Coast Guard reported that it had rescued 158 migrants south of Crete on Tuesday with the assistance of several commercial vessels and Frontex, the European Union's border and coast guard agency.
ABC News
EuroNews

Sources Split

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The Spin

Narrative A

There's evidence that systematic human rights violations continue at Greece's borders, with persistent use of violent pushbacks and inadequate detention conditions. To comply with the international agreements and legal code that Greece must abide by, the Greek government must adopt the commissioner's recommendations with all haste.

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Narrative B

The accusations of institutional and systemic human rights violations on the part of Greek officers and the Hellenic Coast Guard, particularly regarding so-called systemic pushbacks, are fundamentally false. Greek officials uphold human rights through their actions and maintain the strictest interpretations of international law to hold themselves to the highest standard.