Greece has ‘secret site’ for migrant pushbacks

ATHENS: Greece has a "secret site" on the border with Turkey to incarcerate and expel migrants arriving in a surge facilitated by Ankara, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

The Greek government denied the Times report, saying all frontier security was carried out according to the law. Thousands of migrants have arrived at the Greek frontier since President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on February 28 that Turkey would no longer stop them from trying to enter Europe.

"The extrajudicial centre is one of several tactics Greece is using to prevent a repeat of the 2015 migration crisis," the online Times report said. Nearly a million refugees made it to Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, just off the Turkish coastline, in the 2015 exodus, and the majority moved on to mainland Europe.

The Greek government dismissed the Times report, with the state spokesman insisting "there is nothing hidden." "If the New York Times knows about this, I don’t see how a detention camp like this can remain a secret," government spokesman Stelios Petsas told reporters.

"There is no secret detention camp in Greece. All matters related to guarding the borders, or involving security, are transparent. The constitution, Greek law and European regulations are in force," Petsas said. The European Commission said it was incumbent on the Greek government to investigate the allegations.

A spokesman said the EU executive’s chief, Ursula von der Leyen, would raise the issue with Greek leaders in a visit to Athens on Thursday. The Times said it had confirmed the existence of the site through reporting and forensic analysis of satellite imagery. It also interviewed a Syrian man who claimed to have been taken to the site, near the border village of Poros.