European Court of Human Rights finds strong evidence that Greece engaged in unlawful pushbacks to Turkey

In the case of A.R.E. v. Greece (application no. 15783/21) a chamber of the European Court of Human Rights has concluded that there were “strong indications” that there was an unlawful systemic practice by Greece of returning people arriving in the Evros region to Turkey. The decision related to events that took place in 2019. The decision is currently available only in French but the press release is in English, both can be found here.

ARE arrived in Greece on 4 May 2019, claimed asylum and was subject to a “pushback” the same day. ARE alleges that she was taken to an unidentified police station, her belongings (including shoes, money and mobile) were taken and she was then driven with others in a lorry to a river where they were forced to board a small inflatable boat and returned to Turkey. She was arrested by Turkish authorities the following day.

The Greek Council for Refugees lodged a criminal complaint on behalf of ARE in June 2019 but this was rejected by the prosecutor for lack of evidence. The application to the European Court of Human Rights was lodged in March 2021. The court held that there had been:

– a violation of Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) and 13 (right to an effective remedy) of the European Convention on Human Rights on account of the applicant’s “pushback” to Türkiye. The Court considered that there were strong indications to suggest that there had existed, at the time of the events alleged, a systematic practice of “pushbacks” of third-country nationals by the Greek authorities, from the Evros region to Türkiye. In this connection, it noted that the applicant had been sent back to her home country, Türkiye – from which she had fled – without carrying out a prior examination of the risks she faced in the light of Article 3 of the Convention or, therefore, taking account of her request for international protection.

– a violation of Article 5 §§ 1, 2 and 4 (right to liberty and security) on account of the applicant’s detention prior to “pushback” to Türkiye. The Court took the view that the applicant’s informal detention had been a preliminary to her “pushback” and lacked any legal basis.

– a violation of Article 13 (right to an effective remedy), read in conjunction with Articles 2 and 3 (risk to life and ill-treatment during “pushback”). The Court held that the national legal system did not provide an effective remedy, including in respect of alleged violations of Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention during a “pushback”. 

Greece was ordered to pay €20,000 to ARE. Either party could still request consideration of the case by the Grand Chamber of the court within three months of today’s decision.

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