Europe Sees Widespread Illegal Pushbacks at Its Borders

(MENAFN) A coalition of international human rights organizations reported Tuesday that at least 80,865 cases of illegal pushbacks occurred at Europe’s external borders in 2025.

The report explains that pushbacks involve forcibly returning migrants across borders without granting access to asylum procedures, often accompanied by violence.

“They threw us in the river at three in the morning,” recounted a young Egyptian man who survived a pushback along the Balkan route. He said he was traveling with 40 others, including 12 minors, and described being beaten and stripped before being forced into a river at the Bosnia and Herzegovina border.

“These practices are entirely illegal under European law and the UN Refugee Convention,” the report stated, emphasizing that pushbacks breach the principle of non-refoulement, which forbids returning individuals without assessing their protection needs.

The coalition stressed that pushbacks are a “systematic policy” rather than isolated incidents. In January 2025, the European Court of Human Rights confirmed that illegal pushbacks in Greece reflected a systematic approach.

Despite these rulings, reports of violence, including fatal incidents at sea, have continued.

Earlier this month, 15 people died after their boat reportedly collided with the Greek coast guard, with survivors claiming the vessel had been deliberately blocked from reaching shore.

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