Heightened border security and the fear it instils are increasingly prompting asylum seekers to hide from authorities on arrival in Greece, with sometimes tragic consequences. Fostering trust is enabling an NGO to help.

The migration route between Turkey and Greece has long been undertaken by those fleeing persecution from many different countries of origin. In the aftermath of a huge movement of refugees that began in 2015, Greece and other European countries invested heavily in securitisation of borders, implementing policies across land and maritime borders that endanger lives. Among the most damaging aspects of this tightened border security, and the detentions, kidnappings and pushbacks that have resulted, is the fear it instils in asylum seekers along their journeys and after arrival, leading people to hide from services and authorities. Frontline responders such as Refugee Biriyani & Bananas (RBB) witness the physical and psychological impacts of these practices on asylum seekers and on their family members in countries of origin or other countries desperately trying to locate their loved ones.

Increasing pushbacks and criminalisation

UNHCR reported that 54,417 people crossed the Aegean Sea to various Greek islands in 2024.[1] In the same year, they reported 125 people as either dead or missing, although the real number may be significantly higher. Reports from human rights defenders and the press give evidence of repeated human rights violations at Greek borders and at sea, with denial of the right to asylum, in many cases resulting in people going missing or their bodies being recovered.[2] Pushbacks, the practice of using force to remove asylum seekers from the territory in which they have arrived, constitute a type of refoulement, and thus violate the rights expressed in the Refugee Convention not to be returned to a country of potential risk. Despite this, pushbacks in Greece and other European countries have become all too common and are well documented by journalists and NGOs.

As a result of this increase in border violence over the years, RBB and other NGOs working in Greece have noticed a marked change in the behaviours of newly arrived refugees and migrants. Whereas in 2015 arrivals were keen to present themselves to authorities openly to seek asylum, the current climate is so hostile that instead they fear the police and seek refuge in remote areas. When asked why, people overwhelmingly describe being afraid of abuse and pushbacks to Turkey via the sea or land. This fear is based on lived experience or from hearing about such incidents from others seeking asylum via the same routes.  Asylum seekers being arrested and charged with crimes further perpetuates this fear.

According to data reported by Hellenic Coast Guard, 228 people on the move were arrested by the Greek state between January and November 2024 and accused of smuggling, as they were identified as having steered boats that reached Greece.[3] In many cases these charges are dropped after months or years of detention and delayed trials, causing more harm to the people affected.

There are also attempts to criminalise humanitarian assistance to people at risk at sea and on land, with a number of aid workers and human rights defenders arrested and facing long, drawn-out trails. Such criminalisation puts constant pressure on frontline workers who face intimidation from authorities and scrutiny for conducting their work, resulting in a withdrawal of many from the Greek islands where support is needed. RBB has so far remained present, conducting community-led support services for refugees in this highly scrutinised environment, by building on acceptance and trust from communities to support highly vulnerable cases of people in distress.

A case study from Chios Island, Greece

Refugees and migrants arriving on Chios Island, which lies close the Turkish coast in the northern Aegean Sea, experience much of what has been outlined so far in terms of abuse, pushbacks and a climate of fear. People feel compelled to hide for days without food and water in the mountains and forests, leading to serious impacts on physical and mental health. Cases to which RBB has been alerted over the years have included families with children and infants, elderly people, people with disabilities and pregnant women, as well as men. The numbers missing in the mountains and forests of Chios or at sea are not known. In some cases, people have reported being pushed back up to 16 times before finally making it to the Chios Reception and Identification Centre in Vial Camp for registration, where they often arrived injured and emaciated.

As an NGO supporting refugees, RBB is alerted to arrivals who are seeking support and often submits reports to authorities on their behalf to request search and rescue if people are lost in remote areas. In one particularly tragic event, RBB tried to assist three people missing on the island. The case provides a devastating example of how current border practices result in people going missing and dying.

Huda’s story

In June 2022, 32 people arrived at Chios Island by sea. Although details of what happened on their arrival are unclear, it appears from testimonies that 21 people from the group were immediately found and taken to the area of registration for asylum, while the others fled in fear of pushback to Turkey. The group of 11 who went into hiding consisted of eight men and three women, including Huda, a 24-year-old woman from Somalia. The group remained hidden in the forest, climbing higher into the mountains until they found themselves lost and stranded.

The information was provided to RBB by family members, who later shared voicemails from members of the group in which the fear could be heard in their voices. According to one male member of the group, the condition of the three women deteriorated, forcing them to remain where they were, while the men eventually descended the mountain to find help and were found by police. They reported the condition of the women and their whereabouts to the police and were told that they would be searched for. According to one man’s testimony, this group of men were then detained by the police, handcuffed and put onto a boat. An unknown agency took them out to sea and left them there, where they were eventually found by Turkish rescue efforts.

At the same time, RBB was alerted about the three women in the mountainous forests surrounding a village called Kardamyla, in the northeast of Chios, by an NGO based on another island who reported that their health was not good. Different agencies and organisations were contacted to try to support them remotely, as NGO workers fear criminalisation if they approach arrivals directly. RBB was part of a response network that submitted missing persons reports and requested assistance on at least two occasions from local authorities, including the police, sharing last known locations to assist, but no rescue efforts were launched.

Sadly, Huda died days later and was found in a field, part of the Agia Triada monastery, in Kardamyla. She had died of starvation and a lack of water after hiding in the forest for five days. The two other women were tragically never found. During this time, and for many months afterwards, RBB offered support to the family and community members of the women, including Huda’s brother who later came to identify and repatriate her body to Somalia for burial. RBB continued to advocate for the recovery of the other two women through a coalition of NGO workers, journalists, volunteers, family and friends of the women and members of the Somali community, who requested that a thorough search and investigation be conducted, and for accountability over the incident. Despite efforts from the Greek Ombudsman, no attempts were made to find the women or to investigate the incident.

This story shows how pushbacks, criminalisation, and state neglect in performing search and rescue impact displaced people in Greece in profound ways.[4]

Trust and community support

The story of Huda and the other unknown women also highlights the type of support asylum seekers on Chios Island need, and how NGOs can assist. Having built trust among refugee communities with lived experience, RBB is often contacted through its helpline when people arrive on the island and are in distress. The NGO works discreetly with a small network of organisations, journalists, volunteers and legal aid workers to deliver rapid remote interventions to help people access urgent aid, including food and clothing, and to give them the best chance of being rescued or transferred to registration facilities for asylum claims. Interventions can last a few hours or days at a time. In such a hostile climate, trust is a key element and any responding NGO must learn how to gather essential information sensitively from people already scared and in distress. The information is then used to submit an urgent report to the relevant bodies informing them of the arrival and requesting search and rescue. Reporting through official channels in this manner has proven to be useful in reducing the risks of pushbacks as it means there is some accountability over those involved in these practices. Where appropriate, it can also be helpful to publicise the situation on social media and via journalists and to inform human rights groups in the hope that greater publicity will prevent pushbacks. Over the years the RBB helpline has helped countless arrivals find the reception centre on the island and been a trusted source of information and support. Challenges occur if the emergency services are unable to find people and refuse to perform an advanced search and rescue mission, however, as aid workers risk criminalisation if they approach arrivals directly.

In this highly sensitive environment, RBB advocates for an accompaniment model of assistance, meaning that the holistic needs of refugees and migrants are considered, even after the incident which led them to contact RBB. An accompaniment model, particularly in the context of healthcare and social justice, involves organisations or individuals ‘walking alongside’ those they serve, offering support, resources, and advocacy, rather than simply providing services. The aim is to be flexible and responsive to the unique needs of individuals, acting as partners in responding to those needs. Accompaniment de-centres the role of the external NGO worker and centres the experience of the person facing the challenge and their surrounding community. In many situations, NGOs work independently of existing community networks, however RBB has found that these networks are an invaluable support to people in distress. Especially in the case of missing persons, connecting with community can provide information about last known locations, as well as offering family members much needed comfort and moral support. Members of the community help with interpretation, information sharing and awareness raising, and RBB becomes part of the community response to the crisis, working in a trusted relationship with affected people. Accompaniment prioritises respecting the decisions people take for themselves, and therefore RBB assists in taking testimonies of violations if the affected person wishes either to pursue a legal route, or to use their experiences to raise awareness of the issues among the public. While there may be few tangible outcomes to simply recording an individual testimony, the practice of ensuring people have some access to justice enables them to feel less invisible within a system that overwhelmingly removes their agency.

Recommendations

Frontline NGOs such as RBB witness the full impact that border violence has on the lives of refugees and migrants on arrival and are often in touch with affected families of victims long after the event. The lack of state response towards missing persons in Greece and across European borders causes long-term and irreparable harm to family members who may never know how or where their loved ones have died, and causes devastating moral injury to the frontline workers who feel they have not been able to carry out their duty of care towards people in distress.

There is an urgent need for an increase in search and rescue efforts in border areas, especially when information is reported, regardless of the legal status of the individual. NGOs should be allowed to operate without intimidation from authorities, and funding bodies should look towards frontline NGOs who can be enabled to provide crisis response in a framework that centres community-led care and holistic support for the people affected. Finally, the need for human rights observers along border areas has never been more crucial to ensure pushbacks are not conducted unlawfully and are witnessed and reported for effective accountability.

 

Aliya Abidi
Volunteer Trustee Member, Refugee Biriyani & Bananas
Aliya@refugeebiriyanibananas.org

Refugee Biriyani & Bananas is a female-led grassroots initiative with volunteers from refugee and migrant communities. The case study in this article was generously shared through testimony from affected persons.

 

[1] UNHCR ‘Operational Data Portal, Europe Sea arrivals, Greece’

[2] See for example ‘EU calls for independent inquiry into Greece ”pushback“ of asylum seekers’, The Guardian, 22^nd May 2023

[3] ‘Sharp rise in arrests of migrant smugglers in 2024’, Ekathimerini News Outlet, 14^th December 2024

[4] For further coverage of this case see ‘Asylum seekers are disappearing on Greek islands’, Middle East Eye, 22^nd July 2023

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