Dozens of rights groups urge Pope Francis to take stand on Greek pushbacks

Dozens of refugee rights groups in Greece on Thursday urged Pope Francis, who is visiting on Saturday, to help halt illegal pushbacks of migrants allegedly carried out by Greek border forces.

"Reports of serious violations of human rights taking place across European borders, to the extent of pushing people back to Turkey, have been corroborated by international organizations," the 36 groups said in a letter to the pope, unveiled at a press conference on Thursday.

"This systematic practice endangers the life of people, including young children, that often end up abandoned in the middle of the sea."

"This illegal practice must end, and we ask you to deploy all your influence, in order for this to stop and in order to establish an independent border monitoring mechanism that will investigate these events," the groups including medical charity Médecins du Monde and Jesuit Refugee Service Greece said.

NGOs in Greece have repeatedly decried slow asylum procedures and the alleged mistreatment of migrants and refugees in camps and at the EU member's borders, which Greece's government steadfastly denies.

On Wednesday, the New York Times reported than an Afghan interpreter for the EU border agency Frontex had been among 100 people allegedly assaulted and expelled to Turkey in September.

The Greek ombudsman's office is investigating the claim.

European Union officials are already separately looking into allegations of maltreatment of the man, who says the guards mistook him for an asylum seeker.

Asked about the issue on Thursday, government spokesman Giannis Economou said Greek authorities "evaluate any complaint from trusted and reliable sources" and that competent authorities "are doing their jobs within their responsibilities."

In November, German MEP Cornelia Ernst said she had found five Somali migrants hiding from a "potential pushback" on the island of Samos.

Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi at the time said he had asked the national transparency authority, an independent watchdog that usually monitors civil service corruption, to investigate.

Francis has denounced the "hostility" and "exploitation" migrants in Europe have faced. On Sunday the pontiff will visit the island of Lesbos, one of the main gateways for refugees to Europe.

Lesbos was home to Europe's largest refugee camp until it burned down last year. The pope is scheduled to visit a new camp and speak to some of the residents.

According to UN estimates, around 96,000 refugees and asylum seekers live in Greece.