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"We wouldn’t dare look them in the eye, otherwise they would begin beating us again"

Date & Time 2024-07-31
Location Near Svilengrad, Bulgaria
Reported by Collective Aid
Coordinates 41.7905471, 26.3373385
Pushback from Bulgaria
Pushback to Turkey
Taken to a police station yes
Minors involved yes
WLTI* involved no
Men involved yes
Age 15 - 45
Group size 27
Countries of origin Afghanistan
Treatment at police station or other place of detention detention, fingerprints taken, personal information taken, papers signed, no translator present, denial of access to toilets, Denial of access to medical attention
Overall number of policemen and policewomen involved
Violence used beating (with batons/hands/other), kicking, pushing people to the ground, destruction of personal belongings, theft of personal belongings
Police involved 8 Bulgarian GDBOP, 2 armoured vehicles (likely Sandcats)

On the 31st of July 2024 at around 3pm, a group of 27 people from Afghanistan were violently pushed back from Bulgaria to Turkey, before being forcibly detained in inhumane conditions within Bulgaria.

The group consisted of 10 minors and the rest adults – all of which were male. The youngest in the group was aged 15, and the oldest was approximately 45 years old. This account comes from a 17-year-old within the transit group subjected to these violations.

At approximately 3 pm on the 31st of July, the group were intercepted by eight masked Bulgarian police officers immediately after crossing the border near Svilengrad. The officers were identified by the respondent from reference images as being within the General Directorate Combating Organised Crime unit (GDBOP). The officers arrived in two armoured vehicles, which were identified as Oshkosh Sandcats.

The officers proceeded to use physical force to “take everything”. They stole phones and money from the majority of the group, which were then shared amongst themselves. The respondent stated that the officers even set some of their clothes and belongings alight. The group left with very few possessions. 

The officers kicked and punched members of the group, including the minors, across their entire bodies to facilitate their theft. “We wouldn’t dare look them in the eye, otherwise they would begin beating us again”. The respondent stated that he was unable to stand for between five to 10 minutes after the incident. After what felt like several hours, the officers drove the group back into Tũrkiye and dropped them off not far from the border, at around 6pm. Without a phone from this stage onwards, the respondent was unable to identify where he was.  

Around an hour later, the group recrossed the border near Svilengrad without immediate detection. The group were transported in a vehicle for approximately 40 minutes (direction unknown), before being intercepted by a combination of police officers arriving in three armoured vehicles (as above) and two civilian police cars, identified by the respondent as the commonly used BMW-3 or similar. The group were apprehended, and these vehicles were then used to transport the group to a local police station. 

At the police station, the group were detained for an estimated 10 to 11 hours. They were asked their language, although no Farsi translations or interpreters were provided for them. The group were then forced to sign multiple forms in Bulgarian – it was not known what was written in the documents. The respondent speculated that these papers expressed intent to claim asylum, and disclosed his intention to later go to Germany. Their fingerprints were also taken. 

Afterwards, the group were driven by the police to a camp approximately three and a half hours away. Here the group were detained for 13 days. The respondent stated: “it was inhumane”. He claimed that he was denied his basic rights during the detention. The tap water they had to drink he considered unsuitable for drinking, alongside “awful” and “contaminated” food that was reheated multiple times. The respondent claimed he lost “17kg” during his detainment. 

During the nights, those detained at the camp were locked in their rooms between 9pm and 9am. Outside of these times, the respondent stated that you would be beaten if you asked to leave for any reason, including to use the bathroom. He recalled an incident where he asked for bathroom access to wash his face and body for Isha prayer and was then punched repeatedly in the head and legs by camp guards, struggling to walk afterwards. There was a doctor in camp, but the respondent was refused examination despite significant pain from his injuries. “Nobody knew where we were, we didn’t know where we were”. 

The respondent shared a picture of a card which was given to him when leaving the camp 13 days later. Issued by the State Agency for Refugees, the card invites him to an appointment to collect a registration card and contains his photo and a unique identifying code. The document was in Bulgarian, and the respondent had no understanding of what was written. He was later told by smugglers to destroy this document and the others that he was previously given at the police station, and he never attended the appointment. The respondent insisted that the image of the document is not shared in this testimony. 

From the detention centre, the group were then driven for approximately two hours to a temporary reception centre estimated to be “10 to 15km outside of Sofia”, where they were free to enter and exit. Here the conditions were better, and the respondent then left after two days.