Palestinian family win Greek asylum amid pushback claims

Around dawn one recent spring day, an inflatable dinghy carrying nearly three dozen people reached Greek island of Samos from nearby Turkish coast.

Within 24 hours, refugee rights groups say, same group was seen drifting in a life raft back to Turkey.

But of 32 people determined to have initially me it to Samos, only 28 were in raft Turkish coast guard reported retrieving at sea.

Four days later, missing four — a Palestinian woman and her three children — appeared in Samos' main town of Vathy, apparently having eluded Greek authorities. She applied for asylum and last week was informed ir application h been accepted.

"I consider that arrival of this woman, if we're not speaking of a miracle, of a virgin birth, of her falling from sky, we're speaking of clear proof of a pushback," said Dimitris Choulis, lawyer who helped 31-year-old Huda Zaga apply for asylum, along with her 12-year-old daughter and sons, aged 11 and 5.

Accusations from human rights groups and migrants that Greece has been carrying out so-called pushbacks — illegal summary deportation of migrants without allowing m to apply for asylum — are nothing new, on land or at sea. But it is rare for such cases to involve anyone managing to stay behind.

Greece vehemently denies claims but says it has an obligation to protect its borders, which are also European Union's external borders. It points to March 2020, when Turkey opened its borders into EU and actively encouraged migrants to cross into Greece.

Zaga says she arrived on Samos on April 21 in a dinghy crammed with people. After making it to land, group scrambled up a wooded hill, splitting up to avoid detection by authorities. "We were terrified of being caught and being sent back to Turkey, especially after we crossed into territorial waters of Greece," Zaga told Associated Press. Before long, social media posts appeared. A local journalist posted about migrants' arrival. Or locals said y h seen m,or given m food or water.

But as day progressed, story changed. journalist contacted authorities, and she was told migrants were not new arrivals but residents of a refugee camp on outskirts of Vathy on a day trip — a roughly 50-kilometer hike over mountains.

Several residents informed AP y were told by authorities and ors not to speak of what y h seen. y spoke on condition of anonymity, saying y didn't want problems.

next day, a piece of dinghy migrants arrived in still lay on beach of Marathokampos bay. rights group Aegean Boat Report, which monitors arrivals on Greek islands, posted photos of new arrivals. Some showed Zaga and her children with ors on a wooded hillside, Marathokampos coastline in background.

Asked about case, Greece's Shipping Ministry, under whose jurisdiction coast guard falls, said it has no record of an April 21 arrival on Samos. Authorities did not provide any explanation for appearance of woman and her children.

Zaga said she was aware of pushback risk, having experienced it before. She tried to enter Greece three times earlier from land border but was caught twice inside Turkey and once after entering Greece. This time, she was determined to succeed.

Zaga said she broke away from ors, staying behind with her children, and got in touch with people who h helped arrange her journey to Samos.

She would not provide specifics about how she managed to eve detection, or who helped her contact lawyer. But on morning of April 26, she arrived at Choulis' office asking for assistance.

Choulis said he immediately realized y were people missing from reported Marathokampos arrival. He informed Greek judicial authorities, police and coast guard that he was accompanying family to refugee camp for registration.  As he waited outside during Zaga's registration interview, Choulis said, he was told repeatedly to leave.

"re was a strange climate of suspicion," he said, and an intense fear that Zaga and her children might still be sent back to Turkey. But at this point, representatives of United Nations refugee agency h been informed and were present.

UNHCR Representative in Greece Mireille Girard said organization received a telephone message on April 21 about migrants arriving on Samos and sought confirmation from authorities but got no response. A few days later, agency was informed a family believed to have been with group h remained on Samos and was applying for asylum. "se elements are concerning. y are indications of a pushback from Samos Island on 21 April and need to be formally investigated by authorities," Girard said.

In meantime, Zaga's family has received asylum. She says she fled her home in Nablus region of West Bank for several reasons, but mainly to escape an abusive husband who assaulted her eldest son. She hopes to eventually reach Belgium, where her sister lives.

"I want to see my children happy, to see m going to school, eating healthy food, sleeping well and to live normally just like or children. To have safety and security, to have a school and home," she said.

For Choulis, Zaga's successful asylum application underscores perils of pushbacks, which have at times been allegedly carried out by masked men without visible bges on ir uniforms, to hide ir identities.

" fact that her asylum application was accepted shows just how dangerous it is for masked men of coast guard or police to judge who has right to asylum and who doesn't," lawyer said.

"We cannot leave fate of something as important as right to asylum to be determined in middle of sea or on shores."