Ayhan Mehmet
13 March 2020•Update: 13 March 2020
LESBOS, Greece
Asylum seekers who reached Greece's Lesbos Island for a way to Europe asserted that the Greek Coast Guard seized their belongings.
Some 25 asylum seekers were brought to Molyvos Harbor late Thursday by the Greek Coast Guard after their money and telephones were seized, an asylum seeker told Anadolu Agency.
The asylum seekers were forced to spend the night in the street with wet clothes on them, he said, adding that they were also left with little food.
“We are afraid to speak. When we speak, they respond harshly. They [the Greek Coast Guard] thought that a friend of us was the captain [of the boat] and beat him severely. He couldn't recover for an hour. They sprayed something in his eyes. He couldn't open his eyes for a while,” he said.
In the two weeks since asylum seekers were able to reach the border, nearly 2,500 have been wounded by Greek border guards who use disproportionate violence.
Last month, Turkey opened its borders for asylum seekers seeking a way to Europe, accusing the EU of failing to keep promises under the 2016 migrant deal.
Ankara also warned that due to incessant attacks on civilians in Idlib, Syria, a million refugees were moving toward Turkey’s borders.
With 3.7 million Syrian migrants in Turkey already, more than any other country in the world, Ankara says it cannot absorb another refugee wave.
