Frontex, the European Union’s border security agency, is investigating 12 potential human rights violations by the Coast Guard and Police in Greece against migrants attempting to enter the country between 2023 and 2025. Nine incidents occurred in 2024, two in 2025, and one in 2023. [1], [2].
Some of these cases involve illegal pushbacks at the borders, a practice for which Greece has been condemned by the European Court of Justice, most recently in January 2025 for a case at its land border with Turkey.
Since 2015, 250,000 refugees and migrants have been rescued in Greece, while thousands of others have died at sea, according to the UN.
Every Frontex officer is trained and required to report potential violations. This is a core part of our mission,” says Frontex spokesperson Chris Borowski.
Greece, which has long been a gateway to Europe for migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, has been accused by human rights groups, in addition to the European Court of Justice, of forcibly pushing back asylum seekers at its sea and land borders, according to Reuters.
The Greek government denies these allegations, while the coast guard, in response to a Reuters inquiry, states that it operates “with a strong sense of responsibility and full respect for human lives and human rights.
