The Turkish coast guard said it saved 122 irregular migrants in the Aegean Sea after Greek authorities pushed them back into Türkiye’s territorial waters, according to a statement Monday.
The Turkish Coast Guard Command rescued 87 irregular migrants off the coast of Karaburun district in Izmir province, while 35 were rescued off Menderes district in Izmir, said the coast guard.
The migrants were transported to the provincial migration department.
Many boatloads of migrants attempt to make the dangerous sea crossing to reach the Greek islands from the Turkish coast, hoping to eventually make their way to prosperous European Union countries.
Others attempt to enter Greece by crossing a river that runs along the land border between the two countries.
While many make it to the EU, many others perish at sea or are pushed back by Greece into Turkish waters in violation of international law.
Athens’ illegal practice has been documented by Türkiye, international human rights groups and charities on many occasions, as well as in accounts of migrants intercepted in the Aegean or land borders.
Greece has made a “recurring practice” of alleged secret, illegal and often brutal deportations back to Türkiye, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said in a report released Oct. 31, citing 50 testimonies over the past two years from migrants.
Athens has strongly denied such so-called “pushbacks,” arguing that its coast guard has saved hundreds of thousands of migrants from the Middle East and Africa crossing in small boats from Türkiye.
Greece says it needs to protect its borders, which are also those of the EU, from mass illegal immigration. It has stepped up patrols in the Aegean Sea with the help of the European Border Surveillance Agency, Frontex.
The MSF said the current situation at Europe's borders "is the result of EU policies that condone and enable continued violence against individuals in need."
In the first nine months of the year, migrant arrivals in Greece spiked to over 29,700 people, compared to 11,000 in the same period in 2022, according to figures from the Greek government.
As part of recently revived talks to mend long-tense bilateral ties, Greece and Türkiye are expected to discuss a renewal of a 2016 EU deal restricting migration, as well.
Türkiye itself copes with the irregular migration phenomenon as crises across the world once again put it at the forefront of migrant influx as a gateway to Europe. Balancing a humanitarian policy and the need to stop thousands from risking their lives, Türkiye heightened measures against irregular migration.
Authorities intercepted more than 105,000 irregular migrants between June 1 and Sept. 29.
The Directorate of Migration set up “mobile migration points” to speed up the processing of irregular migrants. The migration points help law enforcement in the field to check for irregular migrants. They use a fingerprint database to check the identity of suspected irregular migrants and cut the red tape for legal migrants who have to prove that they have permits, often by visiting police stations.
