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“The shadow army against refugees in Greece and Croatia – Who are the mysterious men in masks”

“The shadow army that is expelling refugees from the EU. Mysterious masked men hit refugees on Europe’s borders or throw them into the sea. “Investigations that have lasted for months reveal who is hiding behind the secret operations.”

This is the title of an article in the German magazine Spiegel, signed by 10 journalists.

Explaining the reporting methodology, as noted by Deutsche Welle, “SPIEGEL conducted surveys at the EU’s external borders, in Greece and Croatia, for more than eight months together with the European partner media Lighthouse Reports, SRF Rundschau, ARD Studio Vienna , the ARD show “Monitor”, Liberation, Novosti, Croatian RTL and Pointer. The journalists involved were disguised as fishermen, directed drones over the border areas and evaluated satellite images and hundreds of other videos fed to them. They spoke with dozens of sources in the security services and followed by digital footprints of men posing with their masks and bats on Instagram and Facebook.

Research reveals a system. Special units from Croatia and Greece, which usually take action against hooligans and drug traffickers, are chasing EU asylum seekers. They operate mainly in secret and are paid for by European citizens.».

As for the hooded men in Croatian reveals that “the upper echelons of the unit are partly made up of war veterans who fought against Serbian troops in the 1990s. Some of the men appear on Instagram and Facebook with right-wing extremist and fascist symbols, others pose with their weapons at the border. . “Members of a special intervention police force receive extra salaries for their special action against migrants at the border, usually hundreds of euros a month,” according to several Croatian officials. Related videos are also featured in Spiegel’s article on his website.

“Maskers nail hooks to refugees’ boats and shoot in the water”

As for Hellas The magazine refers to the experience of Junior Aba and his wife from the Congo and writes: “In the beginning, Aba says, they hid in the hills by the police. But security forces quickly caught them and took them back to the sea, along with 26 other asylum seekers. In the rubber boat without a motorbike he feared for his life. The men had not even given them life jackets. “A few hours later, Turkish border guards rescued the asylum seekers.”

And a little later in the article it is noted that Aba wants to bring to justice the people who left them at sea. A Greek lawyer has taken over the case and one of the charges is torture. “In recent months, the Aegean has become a battleground. 15 videos from asylum seekers and the Turkish Coast Guard show the scale of the violence. Maskers nail the refugees’ boats with hooks and throw warning shots into the water. Coast Guard pulls refugees in orange lifeboats to Turkey and leaves them at sea, as described by Aba. It is a very dangerous and illegal form of pushback. A new downstream of European immigration policy.

A former Greek official confirms the allegations

SPIEGEL and its partners have been informing about these activities for a year now. There is no longer any doubt that they come from ships belonging to the Greek Coast Guard, even if the government denies it. Someone you know is sitting in a tavern in a port city on a sunny spring day. The man is supposed to be called Giannis Alexiou and until recently worked for the Greek Coast Guard in a high position. He does not want to see his real name published.

In the past, says Alexiou, illegal deportations were isolated cases in the Aegean. The Turkish Coast Guard intercepted most of the boats as a result of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s agreement with Turkey. But as of March 2020, the Turks are barely stopping the refugees. The conservative government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, says Alexiou, has hardened its stance. Since then, among other things, special units are in charge of delivering to the sea with the help of lifeboats those who seek protection. “One can undoubtedly identify the special forces in the videos presented by Spiegel.”

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