A statement by Hammurabi Human Rights Organization on migrants and refugees stranded on the Turkish-Greek border!
by Hammurabi Human Rights Organization | RESPOND
●Our organization condemns the use of refugees as an instrument for political purposes.
● Hammurabi Human Rights Organization calls on all actors to stop using this humanitarian issue for political goals and calls on civil society organizations and the international community to protect these refugees from cold, hunger, illness and other sufferings. of thousands of refugees towards the Greek-Turkish borders of Evros and eastern Aegean islands, the Greek authorities have escalated security and violence for the "protection" of the sea and land borders. The extreme and inhuman practices of border forces include until today pushbacks, teargasing, abuse and arrests of new arrivals. Refugees and migrants are being instrumentalised by political actors on both sides of the border, who are jeopardizing their safety and causing severe violations of their rights. The decision of the Greek government to suspend the reception of asylum applications, following the increase of new arrivals from Turkey, is a highly worrisome parallel development and a direct violation of international law.
Hammurabi Human Rights Organization is following with great concern what is happening on the Turkish-Greek borders and the region of the Aegean from the influx of migrants and refugees who fled from the Middle East and Near East countries and other countries as a result of poverty or violence and instability in their countries.
The attempts to force refugees and migrants to enter Europe forms a political act that does not show concern about what these migrants may face in terms of risks and the possibility of being exposed to dangerous disasters and tragedies, especially since the European Union countries are mobilizing their security forces to help Greece not allow these migrants to pass to Europe. This is troubling given the certainty that these fleeing citizens are running from very harsh conditions and are still facing violence and risk.
Hammurabi Human Rights Organization calls on the European Union countries to ensure the adoption of ethical standards, rules of international law and relevant international instruments to deal with these refugees and migrants with the required spirit of humanity and respect for their dignity as a top priority. We also call on the Turkish government to stop using and exploiting migrants to pressure and achieve political goals, especially because there are many testimonies confirming that migrants and displaced people flocked to Turkish-Greek border points after being transferred there by buses from the camps in which they were staying, as well as from the Turkish-Syrian border.
We appeal to international organizations and civil society organizations to provide aid to these citizens stranded on the borders, especially from cold or hunger or from the possibility of the spread of diseases among them.
Hammurabi Human Rights Organization, Baghdad, 4th March 2020