UN ‘Deeply Distressed’ Over Dispossessed Refugees Found by Greece

• The UN refugee agency condemns the “cruel and degrading treatment” of people discovered at the Greek-Turkish border.

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) says it is “deeply distressed by shocking reports and images” of 92 people found at the Greek-Turkish land border stripped of their clothes.

“We condemn such cruel and degrading treatment and call for a full investigation into this incident,” UNHCR said on Twitter on Sunday.

Ankara and Athens traded accusations after Greek authorities found the 92 refugees near their northern border with Turkey on Saturday.

Turkish Deputy Interior Minister Ismail Cataculi denied his country’s involvement in the incident late Saturday after Greece blamed Ankara for it.

“As not a single case of human rights violation by Turkey could be found, it only seeks to expose the image of its own cruelty as if Turkey had done it,” Catakli said on Twitter in response to a tweet from Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi.

Catakli also called on Greece to stop “manipulation and dishonesty.”

Greek Citizen Protection Minister Takis Theodorikakos said Sunday that the refugees’ accounts suggest they have been brought to Greece by Turkish military police.

“One would expect a working explanation from the Turkish government,” he told a Greek television station.

Athens will soon extend a 40-kilometer (24.8-mile) fence along its border with Turkey to prevent people from entering the country that way, Theodorikakos said.

Greece has urged Turkey to respect a 2016 deal with the European Union in which Ankara agreed to stem the flow of refugees and migrants to Europe in exchange for billions of euros in aid.

Turkey says it has strengthened measures to prevent human trafficking.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

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