Geneva: The UN refugee agency is demanding an urgent investigation into the discovery of 92 naked people on Greeces land border with Turkey, calling the incident shocking and saying it has been “deeply distressed” by images of the group, a media report said.
The men, mainly from Afghanistan and Syria, were found close to the frontier after crossing the Evros River in rubber dinghies, according to Greek police, The Guardian reported.
Children were also among the group, a UNHCR spokesperson told The Guardian.
“We are asking for a full investigation because the circumstances are not clear,” said Stella Nanou, the agency’s spokesperson in Athens.
“We are always against degrading and cruel treatment and what we have seen is shocking.”
Images of the naked migrants, some bearing signs of injury, surfaced at the weekend after their reported discovery by patrol guards close to the river, which demarcates the border, The Guardian reported.
In a statement, Greek police said the men had testified they had been brought to the area in three Turkish military vehicles before being ordered to remove their clothes before boarding the inflatable boats. The testimonies, it claimed, were given during the course of a joint investigation conducted by Greek authorities with officials from Frontex, the EU’s border agency.
A disturbing image of the men cupping their genitals as they crouched in the open was posted by the Greek minister of migration and asylum policy, Notis Mitarachi, on Twitter on Saturday.
“Turkey’s behaviour towards 92 migrants whom we rescued at the borders today is a shame for civilisation,” the politician wrote on the social media site.
“We expect Ankara to investigate the incident and protect, at last, its border with the EU.”
