Our Methodology

How we work

Each case entered into the Pushbacks database represents the experience of an individual or transit group who was removed from one or more territories. The reports included in the Violence Within State Borders database constitute personal accounts of other types of border violence experienced by people on the move, such as instances of detention, evictions, pullbacks or violence in the public space, among others. To collect all these lived experiences, field reporters work in various border areas and state interiors, conducting in-depth oral interviews.

The methodology for these interviews involves BVMN’s trained reporters and translators sitting down with respondents to collect their testimony. Clear communication and understanding is established prior to starting. Although the testimony collection itself is typically with an individual or small group, the number of those subjected to the same pushback can exceed 100. Testimony collection often takes place in the same location where member organisations provide services for people on the move due to geographies of violence. For this reason, field reporters are trained and instructed to establish a priori with the respondents that their choice of sharing their testimony is separate and divorced from the services they receive. BVMN members provide services to people on the move without prejudice to legal status, nationality, religious belief, ethnicity, disability or other characteristics

BVMN has a standardised recording framework. It blends the collection of hard data (timings, dates, locations, officer and vehicle descriptions, photos of injuries, medical reports and other corroborating evidence) with qualitative narrative accounts of the pushback incidents. Field reporters are trained with the same testimony collection methodology by BVMN coordinators. Training covers topics of informed consent, the importance of privacy and anonymity, establishing trust and rapport with respondents and avoiding retraumatization, among others.

The data collected is coded by certain characteristics. These include age, nationality, gender, types of violence used, police involved, treatment in detention and attempted asylum claims, among others. The personal data of respondents is anonymised, and any recordings of the interviews taken are deleted after transcription to protect respondents’ safety and data and prevent targeting from State authorities.

While the Network has used the same method of oral interviews since its inception, reports have significantly advanced and become lengthier with the application of new investigative methods, and the expansion of the BVMN reporting team. Therefore, some reports from 2017 to 2018, while still meeting the requirements of core data for our database, may be of shorter length. In addition, some testimonies include fewer details as respondents cannot recall precise information, particularly as many pushbacks are traumatic experiences, which can influence an individual’s recollection. Moreover, many violent incidents described include the confiscation, destruction or theft of phones by the perpetrators, which makes it even more difficult for the respondent to establish some other details, such as pushback locations, or to document the violation. To counter the distortion of memory as a result of factors like trauma, BVMN attempts to collect testimonies as promptly as possible following the pushback incident.

The robustness of BVMN’s methodology is reflected in hosting the largest public database on pushbacks, compiling over 1,860 reports of border violence to date (December 2024). Collecting disaggregated data fuels BVMN’s focused advocacy and engagement with a variety of mechanisms. Equally, the narrative of people’s story indicates and proves that allegations of practices of border violence are consistent, widespread and systematic across geographies of borderlands on the European continent. BVMN records and publicises the stories of people on the move in time of grave violations of human rights, for the victims, their families and societies to have awareness of the truth of what happened.