Türkiye rescues dozens more irregular migrants pushed back by Greece

The Turkish Coast Guard has rescued 43 irregular migrants in the Aegean Sea after they were illegally pushed back into Turkish territorial waters by Greece.

Teams were dispatched off the coast of Dikili in Izmir province on Wednesday after learning of 13 irregular migrants in a rubber boat, the Coast Guard Command said on its website.

Also, 31 irregular migrants pushed back into Turkish waters by the Greek Coast Guard were rescued from a rubber boat off Bodrum district in Mugla, the Coast Guard Command said in a separate statement.

The irregular migrants were brought to shore and taken to the provincial migration management directorate, it added.

The fresh pushbacks came three days after Turkish forces rescued 84 irregular migrants from Afghanistan on Sunday, this time off the country's Canakkale province's coast, after they were pushed into Turkish waters by Greek authorities.

Illegal practice

Human rights groups and media outlets have frequently reported on illegal pushbacks and other human rights breaches by Greek authorities.

Survivors of a migrant boat sinking last month, where 300 - 600 migrants are feared drowned, have blamed the deadly incident on a Greek Coast Guard boat trying to tow the migrant craft into Italian territorial waters.

The European Union's border agency Frontex also said it received "no response" when it offered aerial support to Greek authorities shortly before the migrant vessel capsized, leaving at least 82 people dead.

Türkiye and global rights groups have repeatedly condemned Greece’s illegal practice of pushing back asylum seekers and said it violates humanitarian values and international law by endangering the lives of vulnerable refugees and migrants, including women and children.