Afghan pushback survivor fights ‘impossible’ evidence rules in European courts with new UN case against Greece

An Afghan Hazara teenager who survived a pushback from Greece to Turkey has taken his case to a UN body after a European court rejected it for lack of evidence.

The boy fled Afghanistan in 2018 and reached Samos, a Greek island, by rubber dinghy from Turkey. He had sought asylum in Samos in 2020, aged 15, but his requests were ignored and Greek coast guards put him on a boat back to Turkey. He was handcuffed to another young traveller, and both had their phones and money stolen.

The European Court of Human Rights rejected his case in 2025 despite photos, videos, real-time location sharing, and Turkish Coast Guard and Frontex database records. He has since been granted refugee status in Europe. On Friday, 30 October, he submitted a claim against Greece to the UN Human Rights Committee.

Key points

• The survivor was 15 when a Greek coast guard pushed him back to Turkey after he sought asylum on Samos.
• The European Court of Human Rights rejected his case in 2025 for lack of evidence.
• The court held that the evidence submitted, including photos, videos and Frontex records, was insufficient.
• Pushback cases rarely succeed because there is usually no proof that victims reached European soil.