The hotspot of a cold-blooded pushback 2 minutes read
By Ilya U. Topper
Ayvalik, Turkey, Apr 12 (EFE).- Rubber boats full of migrants and refugees that leave the Turkish coast bound for the Greek islands often find themselves back at square one having been pushed by the Hellenic coastguards.
“There were many of us in the boat,” Masum, an Afghan refugee, tells Efe shortly after being rescued by Turkish coastguards in Turkish territorial waters a few miles off the Greek island of Lesbos.
“We were arriving at the Greek island but the Greek police detained us, nobody helped us.
“They stopped our boat in Greek waters, they carried us back to Turkish waters and left us there,” Masum adds.