The Border Violence Monitoring Network, Pushback Alarm Austria and Bayerischer Flüchtlingsrat release evidence of pushbacks from Germany into Austria. The detailed testimonies documenting a total of six incidents, between November and December 2022, underline the allegations of unlawful pushbacks at the German-Austrian border. Today, Pushback Alarm Austria has published them on the Border Violence Monitoring Network database and the Frankfurter Rundschau reports.

Syrian protection seekers who were apprehended during police checks in Freilassing, Passau, and Munich, described the pushbacks they experienced at the German-Austrian border. They report that they had repeatedly – including in the presence of interpreters – voiced their wish to apply for asylum in Germany to German officials. Despite that, they were transported back to Austria the day after without access to the regular asylum procedure.

“I refused military service under the Assad regime and took the life-threatening journey all the way to Germany because all my close relatives live here. I was stunned when the officials in Freilassing told me I would be fined and could even go to jail if I tried to enter Germany again,” says Ahmad, a young father from Syria.

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