Nils Muižnieks, human rights commissioner at the Council of Europe
"The Hellenic Coastguard commandant has ordered the investigation of three distinct cases of alleged ill-treatment of third-country nationals by staff of the Hellenic Coastguard for the period between August and December 2013," Shipping Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis informed Nils Muižnieks, the Council of Europe's human rights commissioner, on January 10.
"In addition to being incompatible with international human rights and refugee law, collective expulsions of migrants are also ineffective, given that people facing desperate situations cannot really be prevented from migrating," he added.
He said that if Greece is to uphold its human rights obligations, then it "has to radically change its migration policy and practice".
"This is all the more necessary now that Greece has taken on additional responsibilities by holding the presidency of the Council of the European Union.
