Refugees attempting to enter Greece were stripped to their underwear as they were forced back into Turkey on Thursday.
Photos taken on March 5 show groups of migrants huddled together to keep warm after reportedly trying to wade across the Evros River in northwestern Turkey. Another photo shows a male refugee with cane marks on his back.
More than 10,000 migrants mostly from Syria, other Middle Eastern states and Afghanistan, have gathered at the Greek border hoping to get to western Europe. The situation arose after Turkey said it would no longer uphold a 2016 deal with the European Union to keep hundreds of thousands of migrants on its soil in return for EU aid.
It comes after Turkish officials alleged Greek forces killed a migrant and wounded five others on Wednesday as they tried to cross the border between the two countries.
The Greek government has strongly denied allegations, calling them “fake news”
On Friday morning, March 6, Greek authorities were filmed using tear gas and a water cannon to stop groups pushing through the border, while Turkish authorities fired volleys of the chemical weapon which can cause difficulty breathing, skin irritation and chest pain, back onto Greek soil.
Turkey has said it is deploying 1,000 special forces police on its side of the border to prevent Greek authorities from pushing back migrants.
During a visit to Edirne on Thursday, interior minister Suleyman Soylu reportedly accused Greece of mistreating migrants and refugees, saying Turkey “would not allow it.”
In a statement, the EU Council – representing the 27 foreign ministers – said the council expressed “its solidarity with Greece” and “strongly rejects Turkey’s use of migratory pressure for political purposes.”
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