The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has called for an urgent investigation into the discovery of 92 naked refugees on Greece’s land border with Turkey.
Greece’s Migration Minister, Notis Mitarakis, tweeted a photo on Saturday of the naked refugees, some with bodily harm, accusing Turkey of pushing them into Greece and stripping them before doing so.
In a statement, Greek police said the men had testified they had been brought to the land border in three Turkish military vehicles, before being ordered to remove their clothes and boarding the inflatable boats.
The UNHCR said on Twitter on Sunday: “We condemn such cruel and degrading treatment and call for a full investigation into this incident.”
This condemnation comes as Greece and Turkey have traded accusations about the refugee situation over the past few days.
Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, accused Greece of generating “fake news” and “violating International Law” over the 92 refugees. He also took aim at European Union nations, accusing them of encouraging EU-member Greece to “slander” Turkey.
On Monday, Greece’s Citizen Protection Minister Takis Theodorikakos said the evidence is incontrovertible as Frontex, the EU’s border agency, was present during the incident and statements provided by the migrants.
“Turkish officials have some nerve to criticise Greece for the barbaric, medieval-like behaviour of the Turkish side to 92 migrants at Evros. The events have been recorded by Frontex officers and are indisputable,” Theodorikakos said.
Theodorikakos also said he had informed European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson and his 27 EU counterpart ministers of the incident in a letter.
