Greek police have been recruiting migrants to forcibly push other migrants back across the land border with Turkey, a BBC News investigation found. The recruitment of so-called mercenaries was ordered and overseen by senior Greek police officers, according to internal police documents. Pushbacks are generally considered illegal under international law.
Migrants have been stripped, robbed, beaten, and sexually assaulted during these pushbacks, witnesses reported. Mercenaries have been raping female migrants, according to information reported to superiors by a border guard at a disciplinary hearing. Extreme violence by both mercenaries and Greek police, including people being beaten until they passed out, has been witnessed by two migrants and an ex-mercenary. A migrant described how a masked man took off his daughter's nappy in the hunt for valuables.
I am totally unaware of allegations of the use of migrants for pushbacks.
The systematic nature and scale of the operation is evident, with mercenaries used to push back as many as hundreds of people a week, a police source in the Evros region said. According to BBC News - World, an unnamed police source described that there is no soldier, police officer, or Frontex officer serving in Evros who does not know that pushbacks are taking place. The mercenaries are themselves migrants, recruited from countries including Pakistan, Syria, and Afghanistan.
Mercenaries have been unofficially employed on the border since at least 2020, claims indicate. In 2022, Lighthouse Reports documented pushbacks being carried out by foreign masked men in Greece, adding historical context to the current allegations.
There is no soldier, police officer or Frontex (EU border agency) officer serving here in Evros who does not know that pushbacks are taking place.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has denied knowledge of the allegations. According to BBC News - World, Kyriakos Mitsotakis described being totally unaware of allegations of using migrants for pushbacks.
This operation raises significant legal violations and accountability gaps in border enforcement. Pushbacks contravene international law, and the involvement of migrant mercenaries complicates oversight mechanisms. The European Court of Human Rights, National Commission for Human Rights, and Fundamental Rights Office have roles in monitoring such practices, but the scale of alleged abuses suggests systemic failures.
The exact number of migrants affected by these alleged pushbacks and abuses remains unknown, as does how widespread the use of migrant mercenaries is along the entire Greek-Turkish border. It is unclear what specific actions, if any, Greek authorities have taken in response to these allegations, or whether there will be any official investigations or legal consequences for those involved in ordering or carrying out the alleged pushbacks. The identities and accountability of the senior police officers alleged to have ordered and overseen the recruitment of mercenaries are also not publicly confirmed.