In a large-scale crackdown between June and August 2009, the Greek authorities arrested hundreds of migrants across the country, evicting them from run-down dwellings in Athens, bulldozing a makeshift camp in Patras, and detaining new arrivals on the islands. Unaccompanied children caught up in the crackdown were among the many subsequently transferred to detention centers in the north, close to the Turkish border. From there, in secret nighttime operations, the Greek police forced dozens of migrants - possibly hundreds, including unaccompanied children and potential refugees - across the border into Turkey.
