Today we and Forensic Architecture publish an update to our ‘drift-backs’ platform, an interactive web-based map that archives and verifies over 2,000 cases of ‘drift-backs’ in the Aegean Sea:

‘Drift-backs’ are a mode of expulsion that weaponises the geography of the Aegean at the EU’s external borders to deny asylum seekers safe passage. Intercepted in GR waters/islands by the @HCoastGuard, they are left adrift on life rafts, back to Turkey.

To evidence this practice, we have spent the past 2 years collecting, verifying, timestamping and geolocating thousands of images, videos, & GPS locations sent by asylum seekers to monitors like @alarm_phone and @ABoatReport, or taken by the Turkish CG during their ‘rescue’ ops.

Following the unique ridgelines of the Aegean islands and coasts we were able to determine with precision where each piece of evidence was recorded.

Gathering and comparing different sources capturing a single event, we matched groups of people who disappeared from Greek shores only to reappear drifting in Turkish waters, and plotted their precise trajectories on a map.

Locating evidence for 2,010 drift-backs, resulting in the expulsion of 55,445 people, 24 deaths and 17 disappearances over three years (March 2020 - March 2023), this platform is the most complete ongoing documentation of one of Europe’s cruelest border management practices.

The research was assisted by @amnesty Crisis Evidence Lab, @bellingcat Global Authentication Project, and @Border_Violence.

@bellingcat @Border_Violence Additional data contributed by @lesboslegal, @rspaegean, @GCRefugees, @MSFgreece, @HIASGreece, de:border / migration justice collective, Refugee Biriyani & Bananas, and Human Rights Legal Project. Video narration by @Iasonas_Apost.

Visit the investigation page on our website:

Read the release by @ProgIntl

Read the piece by @we_are_solomon

Read the piece by @EFSYNTAKTON