Greek security forces accused of inhumane treatment of migrants

Greece is one of the main gateways for migrants trying to enter northern European countries and the first EU state many will encounter. Its security forces, both soldiers and the police, now stand accused of abusing those trying to make the journey.

Migrants say they have been subject to violence that amounts to torture while trying to pass through the country.

A group of migrants rescued by Turkish border guards in early November in the Thrace city of Edirne said they were beaten and had their money and personal belongings stolen.

Pakistani migrant Musaddiq Javed said that he was arrested by police who then handed him over to soldiers, who took his cash and phone.

"We stayed in Greece for four days and whenever we wanted food they would beat us up,” Javed said.

"The soldiers took me to a room, blindfolded me and put out their cigarettes on my hand and they would hit my feet.”

He was then thrown into the Marista river on the Turkish border before his rescue.

Another migrant Mohammed Nainiya, from Morocco,  also said this phone and 700 Euros were seized by Greek soldiers before he was kicked out of the country.

"They put 20 of us on a boat and told us to cross the river while hitting our head with sticks," Nainiya added.

"We walked for miles after crossing to Turkey and came to a village, where the villagers gave us clothes.”

On October 22 migrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka were found injured in another town of Edirne by Turkish security forces. Wounded irregular migrants were taken to hospitals nearby.

Last year, 14 Palestinian nationals, half-naked with traces of beatings on their backs, came to a Turkish village, near the Greek-Turkish border.

These immigrants also claimed they were beaten by Greek forces and forcibly expelled towards Turkey.