Accounts of violence at Greece’s borders have proliferated in recent years, against a landscape in which medical and humanitarian assistance for people crossing into Greece by land and sea is limited or absent, and independent scrutiny of border management practices is non-existent.

Since launching medical activities in response to the urgent needs of new arrivals on the Aegean islands of Samos and Lesvos, MSF has received repeated accounts of patients’ lives endangered by violence and pushbacks.

Drawing on operational and aggregated medical data, patient testimonies, and observations of MSF staff gathered between August 2021 and July 2023, this report builds on an existing body of accounts of violence and pushbacks at Greece’s borders, and highlights the physical and psychological suffering, as well as the life-threatening risks, endured by those seeking safety and protection in Greece.