© Forensic Architecture
On 13 December 2024, de:border // migration justice collective and Legal Centre Lesvos provided their joint input to the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants’ report on the ‘phenomenon’ of ‘missing’ migrants.
Based on our experience working in Greece and along Europe’s external/ised borders, the joint submission focusses on the underlying causes of migrants’ disappearances during border crossings and the harmful impacts of in/direct state actions, such as systematic ‘pushbacks’ and ‘non-rescue policies’ endangering migrants.
The joint submission further highlights how disappearances are per se a border control strategy of deterrence. It also provides evidence on the systemic practices of denial and concealment of this violence, as well as the structural barriers to the investigation and remediation of ‘pushbacks’ in Greece, which hinder access to any form of justice and accountability for border violence, deaths and disappearances.
Current border policies that entail the in/direct endangerment, abandonment and unprotection of ‘illegalised’ border crossers are forms of in/direct enforced disappearances. It is critical that international authorities and courts understand and account for the fact that current border regimes enable such violence and routinely deny accountability for such acts. The acknowledgement and recognition of this reality is the foremost step towards accountability and justice.