Greek police using masked migrants to forcibly push back other migrants — BBC News

[0:00] A group of migrants declare they've just crossed the Evros River into Greece. [0:06] It's June 2023. [0:08] They want to claim asylum. [0:11] But later, masked men run towards them. [0:15] There's panic. [0:18] A report by the EU Border Agency's independent investigator found that on the available evidence, [0:26] these men are part of a group that's armed and acting under Greek police orders. [0:32] Migrants themselves, their job here to force other migrants onto boats back to Turkey. [0:38] This is a story about so-called mercenaries. [0:44] The fence marks where the River Evros runs along Greece's eastern border with Turkey. [0:51] Tensions flared here in 2020, [0:53] as Greece has long grappled with waves of refugees and illegal migration, [0:59] including across the Evros from neighbouring Turkey. [1:02] Deterrence now a watchword on Europe's frontier. [1:06] But what does that really mean? [1:08] Look to me. Look. [1:10] Our investigation began when we obtained disturbing images [1:13] via a smuggler disgruntled with his associates. [1:17] This video's unverified, [1:19] but mirrors accounts we've gathered over months [1:22] of migrants being stripped and beaten [1:24] in a pushback operation [1:26] where mercenaries work for the Greek police. [1:31] Near Paris airport, [1:33] we meet a Moroccan [1:34] who claims he was recruited as a mercenary [1:36] under duress in 2020, [1:39] plucked from a crowd of arrested migrants [1:41] by a Greek officer. [1:43] He told me, [1:45] you seem like a good guy [1:46] and speak some English. [1:48] Do you want to work with me? [1:49] I felt forced to say yes [1:51] because I was afraid he would beat me. [1:53] What was the deal they offered you? [1:56] 700 euros, [1:58] papers to stay in Greece [1:59] and three mobile phones. [2:02] Marwan, not his real name, [2:04] says he worked mainly with Afghans [2:06] and denies being violent to anyone, [2:09] but claims he witnessed [2:10] the worst beatings down by the river. [2:13] The reason they beat them so much in that spot [2:15] is to scare the migrants [2:16] so they won't try to come back to Greece again. [2:18] Greece's border with Turkey [2:20] is a military zone, [2:22] so you can't just go down to the river [2:24] to see what's happening [2:25] and our request for filming was denied. [2:28] So we've had to find other ways [2:30] of investigating this story. [2:33] A mum, who we're calling Amal, [2:36] films her little girl [2:37] in a Greek refugee camp. [2:39] The families fled Syria, [2:41] requested asylum. [2:42] They play in a Greek city square. [2:44] But now, they're in Turkey, [2:51] where we travel to meet them. [2:53] That's after Greek police detained them [2:55] just last year, says Amal, [2:57] and handed them to masked men [2:59] who drove them to the river. [3:01] They were stripping and beating people. [3:05] As the men hunted for phones [3:07] or cash, she recalls, [3:09] the children were not spared. [3:11] My daughter was wearing a diaper. [3:14] They took it off [3:15] and even searched it. [3:17] She was terrified and crying. [3:21] Another video [3:22] after another alleged pushback. [3:25] Here, a young man [3:26] is covered in bruises. [3:28] The cause, it's claimed, [3:29] being violently forced back [3:31] to Turkey [3:32] by Greek police [3:33] as well as masked [3:34] Arabic-speaking men. [3:36] Years on, Ahmad's in Germany, [3:40] as he recalls being loaded onto a boat [3:42] and rowed halfway across the Evros. [3:46] The mercenaries didn't dare [3:47] go closer to the Turkish side. [3:49] They would say, [3:50] go, get out. [3:52] Hoover didn't jump. [3:53] They threw them out. [3:54] The water could sweep people away. [3:58] The BBC's also seen extracts [4:00] from an internal inquiry [4:02] into alleged corruption [4:03] in the Greek border police, [4:05] where guards, [4:06] as part of their defense, [4:07] make revealing claims. [4:09] In these transcripts [4:10] from a hearing in 2024, [4:13] accused guards talk openly [4:14] about mercenaries, [4:16] although they call them boatmen. [4:18] Syrians, Pakistanis, [4:19] brought in from around 2020, [4:22] they say, [4:23] because coronavirus [4:24] and tensions with the Turkish [4:26] had made pushbacks more dangerous. [4:28] One guard says [4:29] there was information [4:30] which they'd reported [4:31] to their superiors [4:33] that boatmen [4:34] were going to the woods, [4:36] raping the women [4:37] and taking their money. [4:38] We have been trying [4:41] for weeks and weeks [4:42] to get a response [4:43] from the Greek government [4:44] about all of this, [4:45] but we've had nothing official back, [4:47] so we've come to a summit [4:48] in Brussels [4:49] to see if we can speak [4:50] to the Greek prime minister. [4:54] Prime minister, [4:55] has Greece been using migrants [4:56] to do pushbacks in Evros? [4:58] Prime minister, [4:58] why won't the Greek government [4:59] talk to us? [5:00] He didn't take questions [5:01] from any reporters there [5:03] that morning, [5:04] but came back [5:05] more than 12 hours later. [5:06] We've been investigating allegations [5:09] that Greek authorities [5:10] have been using migrants [5:12] to pushback other migrants [5:13] to Turkey in Evros. [5:15] Are you aware of these allegations? [5:17] Will you be looking into them? [5:18] I am totally unaware [5:20] of these allegations, [5:21] but I would like to make a point. [5:23] Greece is protecting its borders. [5:25] It is... [5:25] Hold on a second. [5:26] Hold on a second. [5:27] It is my obligation. [5:28] It is my obligation [5:29] to ensure that the borders [5:32] of the European Union [5:33] are protected. [5:34] I'm going to be unapologetic [5:36] about these policies [5:37] and I would like to inform you [5:39] that all the members [5:40] of the European Council, [5:41] through their conclusions, [5:43] have made it very, very clear [5:44] that we will not allow [5:46] a massive influx [5:47] of migrants and refugees [5:49] into the European Union [5:51] and we will not repeat [5:52] the mistakes of 2015. [5:53] So are you saying [5:54] that pushbacks... [5:54] Thank you very much. [5:55] Sorry, prime minister, [5:57] but these allegations [5:57] are very serious. [5:58] Serious violence, [5:59] mistreatment of people. [6:00] Borders and attitudes [6:03] have hardened a decade on [6:05] from the peak [6:06] of the migration crisis, [6:07] as Greece has been called [6:09] Europe's shield. [6:10] But we've found [6:11] much more lies behind [6:13] that phrase [6:14] than barriers of steel. [6:16] Jessica Parker, [6:17] BBC News in Everos.