In Greece, border agents have begun forcibly deporting refugees on Greek islands back to Turkey, amid outcry from human rights groups and protests by refugees. On Monday, authorities deported 202 refugees in the first wave of a controversial new plan reached last month to deport all newly arriving refugees back to Turkey. In exchange, the European Union said it would formally resettle one refugee from a Turkish camp for every refugee deported. At least 4,000 refugees have been detained on Greek islands since the accord took effect three weeks ago. Former U.N. high commissioner for refugees spokesperson Metin Çorabatir criticized the plan.
Metin Çorabatir: “This deal, in its current shape, if it is implemented like this, it will harm the people, these poor people. It will be a second trauma. They are already experiencing second, third, fifth traumas. And this will be the next trauma.”
This comes as Syrian refugees blockaded a highway in northern Greece over the weekend, protesting the border crackdowns across Europe which have left refugees stranded in Greece. Syrian protester Fatme spoke out.
Fatme: “We have reached this point, and we are asking, 'What is going to happen to us?' I’m asking all the countries, 'What is our fate?' No one understands what we are going through except us, we who ran away from our country, not because we were hungry. We didn’t leave because we were hungry; we left because there is a war. Is it our fate to die here also? No one is paying attention to us. Absolutely no one.”