Croatia, Greece, Romania illegally pushing refugees back: Report
Al Jazeera
EU members have denied people the right to seek asylum, Lighthouse Reports says, alleging physical abuse in some cases.
Croatia, Greece and Romania have carried out hundreds of illegal refugee pushback operations at the European Union’s external borders since early 2020 as part of a “violent campaign” to deny access to asylum, a new report alleges.
The findings, published on Wednesday by the Amsterdam-based investigative news organisation Lighthouse Reports, reveal that masked security forces and police units in the three EU member states have repeatedly taken coordinated, clandestine action to prevent asylum seekers from crossing their borders.
The allegations add to concerns among rights groups, which have been documenting an intensified use of pushbacks and slammed the EU’s alleged complicity.