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Border guards on the Evros River, on the Greek-Turkish border
Photo: Sakis Mitrolidis / AFP
At the border river Evros in north-eastern Greece, border guards picked up 92 migrants who, according to Greek authorities, were said to have been driven from Turkey across the border to Greece and who were not wearing any clothes or had any luggage with them.
According to the Greek Ministry of Citizen Protection, the incident happened on Friday.
Officials from the EU border protection agency Frontex are said to have been on site on the Greek side of the border.
So far, however, there has been no confirmation from Frontex.
The Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarakis circulated a photo of naked men on Twitter, which is supposed to prove the incident.
In his statement, the minister accused Turkey of sending people across the border.
The Turkish behavior towards the 92 migrants is a "disgrace to civilization".
Ankara is expected to investigate the incident, Mitarakis wrote.
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The Greek Ministry of Citizen Protection also confirmed the incident.
Accordingly, police officers from the Greek border guards rescued the people "in cooperation with Frontex".
The migrants were naked and had no luggage with them, the ministry said in a statement.
Some of the migrants told Greek officials that they were transported to the river in three vehicles owned by the Turkish authorities and placed in rubber boats to cross to Greece.
Some of the people are said to have been injured, the Greek police said in a statement.
The migrants were clothed and cared for.
Athens wants to almost completely seal off the border on the Evros River in the north-east of the country because of the increased number of illegal border crossings from Turkey.
The existing 35 kilometers of border fence along the river are currently being extended by 80 kilometers.
Not only on the Evros, but also in the eastern Aegean, Greek border guards had recently recorded a significant increase in the number of refugees.
rai/dpa