The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday that Greece had committed a crime by deporting a woman seeking asylum back to neighboring Turkey. The court also found that Greece’s practice of turning people away from its border was systematic.
The decision of the court in Strasbourg, France, may affect how European countries will act in the future towards migrants arriving at their borders.
A court has awarded a Turkish woman known by the initials ARE 20,000 euros in damages. The court ruled that Greece had deported her unfairly because the country had not given her the opportunity to apply for asylum.
The UN refugee agency has called on Greece to investigate further allegations of pushback against the country’s authorities, while several human rights groups have described Greece’s crackdowns as systematic.