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European Court of Human Rights slams Greece over mass refugee drowning
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LONDON, 09 July 2022, (TON): The European Court of Human Rights has condemned Greek authorities for acting unlawfully in failing to protect refugees in a 2014 mass drowning in the Aegean Sea that left 11 dead.
The landmark ruling also found that Greek officials subjected 12 of the survivors to degrading treatment when they reached land by strip-searching them, and failed to conduct an effective investigation into the circumstances surrounding the boat’s sinking that led to the drowning.
In its judgement, the court said “Greek authorities violated the refugees’ human rights on three counts by failing to protect them, by failing to conduct an adequate investigation and by subjecting them to degrading treatment.”
Sixteen survivors of the incident 13 Afghans, two Syrians and a Palestinian said “the Greek coastguard were responsible for the sinking when they towed the boat at high speed toward Turkey in what is known as a pushback operation, The Independent reported.”
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