Migrants returned to sea on Lesbos: Greece claims it is conducting an “investigation”

Last week, the New York Times published a video showing migrants pushing off the Greek island of Lesvos in the Aegean Sea. Outgoing Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis assured on Tuesday that his government was “investigating”, “I have taken this matter very seriously” and that “an investigation is already underway by my government,” he said during interview on CNN.

A video filmed by a human rights activist in Lesbos in April and released by the NYT on Friday shows a group of migrants, including a child, being driven in a white van to the southern tip of the island.

Rescued by the Turkish Coast Guard.

According to the NYT, they were put on board a small boat and then transferred to a Greek Coast Guard boat before being abandoned on a “drifting black inflatable life raft.” They were then rescued by Turkish Coast Guard boats.

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson have already called for an “independent and effective investigation”.

Greek authorities are regularly accused of deporting European Union asylum seekers to Turkey, which is condemned by international law.

Mitsotakis blames Ankara

The Greek government has always denied these allegations, despite repeated testimonies from migrants and reports from NGOs. According to European rules, the first country of entry of a migrant into the European Union is responsible for his asylum application.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis reiterated that he had implemented a “strict but fair” migration policy for four years and was pleased to “significantly reduce trafficker activity”. He called the towing practice “completely unacceptable” and again accused neighboring Turkey and the Turkish port police of “pushing desperate people into Greek territory in inflatable boats that can’t swim.”

The CNN interview comes two days after the landslide victory of the conservative New Democracy party, led by Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in the legislative elections.