FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RE: PUSHBACK INCIDENTS AT THE GREEK BORDER
“We have a legal and moral obligation to protect people fleeing bombs, bullets and tyrants, and throughout history those people have enriched our society.” —Juliet Stevenson
Thousands of refugees fleeing their homeland due to violence, terror, or political prosecution use Greece as an entry gate to Europe. Since the beginning of 2014, over 1.1 million refugees have crossed the borders of Greece. (1) Growing numbers of refugees have begun to use Evros as a passage from Turkey to Greece.
In the last couple of years, a significant number of Turkish citizens have also begun to cross the border between Turkey and Greece and sought asylum due to the Turkish government’s targeting of dissidents belonging to different ideologies, particularly the Gulen Movement. Advocates of Silenced Turkey appreciates all the Greek government did to welcome genuine Turkish refugees, who have escaped in fear of their life and freedom. It is important to understand that those who are not able to leave are subjected to social death and are not accepted as fully human by the wider society.
