(ANSAmed) - ATHENS, 18 FEB - Greece has once again moved quickly to reject claims that the government has been involved in alleged so-called "pushbacks", of migrants in the Aegean Sea.
    According to reports in The Guardian and Der Spiegel the deaths of two African migrants, from Cameroon and Ivory Coast, last September was a result of pushbacks taking place.The reports claimed that the two migrants arrived in the eastern Aegean island of Samos last September from Kusadasi in Turkey but instead of being given the chance to apply for asylum, they were arrested by people who said they were police.
    They were then allegedly transported, along with another person, out to the open sea by a speedboat and thrown into the water. While one of the men managed to swim to the Turkish shores, the other two men were found dead, drowned, off the coast of Aydin province.
    But Greece's Minister of Migration and Asylum released a strongly-worded media statement in response to the claims.
    "Turkish-driven propaganda about illegal migration means that false stories frequently appear in the media. Greece protects the external borders of the European Union, in full compliance with international law and in full respect of the charter of fundamental rights," said Mitarakis.
    He added: "Obviously national independent authorities investigate all claims to the contrary, but when these authorities request further information and evidence from the authors of such reports they refuse to provide it. In the absence of action by the Turkish authorities, the Hellenic Coastguard continues to save the lives of thousands of men, women and children at sea every year. Between 2015 and 2021 the Hellenic Coastguard came to the rescue of more than 230,000 third country nationals who were in danger at sea. Greece is not against legal migration; we are against the traffickers and all those who exploit human suffering either for profit or for political purposes." The media statement also said that in the last seven years alone, "Greece has provided safe harbour for over one million people''. Putting that into context, that figure is over 10% of the country's entire population.
    This is hardly the first time that Greece has been prompted to react to claims in the media about pushbacks. It continues to be an extremely thorny issue, especially for Greek-Turkish relations.
    Only last week, the two countries were embroiled in a war of words over the deaths of 12 migrants at the northern land border near Ipsala.
    Greece's government vehemently denied the claims made by Turkey that the deaths at the border area between the two countries was a result of alleged illegal pushbacks made by Greek border guards.
    Then Mitarakis had dismissed the accusations made by Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, who via a post on Twitter said the 12 people who died froze to death, and that they were part of a larger group of 22 people who were stripped of their shoes and clothing by Greek border security. While he did not specify the nationality of the migrants, Soylu shared blurred out photographs of eight of the recovered bodies, including three men who were in shorts and T-shirts.
    "The death of 12 migrants on the Turkish border near Ipsala is a tragedy. But the truth behind this incident bears no resemblance to the false propaganda pushed out by my counterpart Minister, Mr. Soylu," Mitarakis said last week.
    He added: "These migrants never made it to the border. Any suggestion they did, or indeed were pushed back into Turkey is utter nonsense. Rather than pushing out unfounded claims Turkey needs to live up to its obligations and work to prevent these dangerous journeys at source. And, instead of blaming others, Turkey must accept their responsibilities if we are to prevent such tragedies from happening again." In the past year, the Turkish government has repeatedly accused Greece of pushing back asylum seekers, which would be in clear violation of international law and human rights.
    Several NGOs have also made statements claiming that Greece, with help from the EU, is trying to keep migrants away from entering Greek waters, and even of returning migrants to Turkish waters. However, there have also been counterclaims, saying Turkey moves migrants it intercepts in its own waters to Greek waters.
    The EU has also voiced concern over allegations of such pushbacks at sea, but in a series of investigations, Brussels has exonerated its Frontex agency from any complicity in the alleged pushbacks.
    Both the Greek and the Turkish government have repeatedly denied conducting such pushback tactics. (ANSAmed).