Marchers in Athens protest reported Greek migrant pushbacks

Hundreds of people marched through central Athens on Sunday to protest what they say are Greece’s pushbacks of migrants and refugees at the border with Turkey

ATHENS, Greece -- Hundreds of people marched through central Athens on Sunday to protest what they say are Greece’s pushbacks of migrants and refugees at the border with Turkey.

The marchers carried an inflatable dinghy, like those migrants use to cross the sea from Turkey, and a banner saying “Stop pushbacks, stop border violence.”

The protest followed a similar one on Saturday in Istanbul organized by Turkish humanitarian groups who marched to the Greek consulate to protest the recent deaths of 19 migrants near Turkey’s border with Greece. At least one march leader in Turkey charged that Greek authorities had taken clothing from the migrants before pushing them back to die in freezing temperatures. Greek officials say the migrants who died never reached the border.

Turkey has frequently alleged that Greece carries out pushbacks of migrants seeking to cross the northwestern land border or trying to reach Greece’s Aegean Sea islands. Greece strongly denies the allegation, although the government has taken credit for better patrolling land and sea borders, significantly cutting the influx of migrants.