Greece has denied media reports alleging that the country might be involved in pushbacks at sea. The government has accused its neighbor Turkey of deliberately spreading fake news.
Forty-eight people landed at Rome's Fiumicino airport on Friday, January 28 with a flight from Athens via a humanitarian corridor promoted by the Community of Sant'Egidio.
There appears to be a discrepancy between the number of migrants registered as arriving in Greece during 2021 and the numbers the Greek Minister for Maritime Affairs said were rescued by the Greek coast guard in the same year.
According to a blog post from the human rights organization Aegean Boat Report, this week 25 migrants from Afghanistan reached the Greek island of Lesbos, only to be rounded up and set adrift by armed "commandos." The group, which includes 17 small children, are now at a center in Turkey.
Greece is seeking an agreement with Pakistan and Bangladesh to take back migrants who are 'not entitled' to asylum. Around 250 people from the two countries were on a Turkish cargo ship that broke down off Crete.