Bar Associations: Refugees Stuck at Border Facing 'Historical Violation,' Have Urgent Needs

Photos: AA

Click to read the article in Turkish

The refugees stuck at Turkey's border with Greece are in urgent need of food, medical and cleaning supplies and clothing, according to a report by İstanbul Bar Association.

Thousands of refugees have been moving towards border and coastal regions with the hope of crossing into Greece since Friday (February 27), when Turkey announced it will no longer try to stop refugees from reaching Europe.

CLICK - Refugees Stuck at Turkey-Greece Border Attacked with Plastic Bullets, Tear Gas

However, those who tried to enter Greece through land borders have been stuck as Athens closed its border.

A team of lawyers from the bar association visited Pazarkule Border Crossing in the northwestern Edirne province and have written a report on the conditions of some two thousand refugees in the area.

The report lists urgent needs such as food, hygiene supplies, medical masks, portable toilets, blankets, clothes, baby food and baby diapers.

With the majority of the stranded refugees being from Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan, there are also people coming from Syria, Nigeria and Cameroon, the report notes.

Sleeping on damp and cold ground

"People, including women, children and the elderly, sit and sleep on damp and cold ground without anything to cover themselves. To get warm, they light a fire with the wood they gather from around," stressing that the refugees in the area do not have shelter.

The report remarks that the police forces of Greece attack refugees trying to cross the border with tear gas, stun grenades and pressurized water.

There is food shortage although civil society organizations distribute food to refugees and poor hygienic conditions pose a safety risk, according to the report.

"Mobile toilets were brought to the area but this toilet is insufficient and long queues form in front of it.

"Two ambulances are waiting in the area and support the injured. In case of need, ambulance support is provided to the area from outside."

Refugees want to go to Germany or France

About 40 people interviewed by the lawyers stated that they expected to cross the border and would continue to wait in the area.

"The main purpose of the people we talk to is to go to Germany or France rather than Greece," the report says.

"Refugees who are currently registered in Turkey have expressed that they wanted to leave the country especially due to the problems they experienced in access to work permits in Turkey.

"It was stated that especially children faced the danger of being crushed and numerous people were injured with gas canisters in the attack conducted from Greece."

"It was also stated that around 200-250 people who managed to cross through the land border and rounded up by Greece's police were sent back to Turkey in vehicles after being beaten with sticks and their money, phones and shoelaces were taken."

'A historical violation of human rights'

Ankara Bar Association's Center for Refugees' Rights also released a statement on the events, saying that "Human life is not diplomatic leverage and the tragedy of masses cannot be official intimidation to some part of the world."

"It is a historical human rights violation to open the border crossings to refugees and send them to the unknown without formal communication with the transit or target European countries and taking a guarantee of settlement in accordance with international rules of law."

The bar association called upon authorities to intervene in the crisis and "realize that they are not numbers, ordinary statistical data." (AS/VK)