"I know they are not behaving well towards refugees, but I was not expecting the beating"

The respondent is a 22-year-old man from Afghanistan. He reported being assaulted by private security staff at Patras Port on January 5th, 2023, after being discovered hiding under the carriage of a vehicle. The incident reportedly occurred around 16:30, after the respondent had been positioned under the truck for approximately 30 minutes. He described hearing a conversation near the vehicle and suspected that the driver was alerting port security to his presence. Soon after, he realized that two people were standing on either side of the truck. One of them shouted something, and he understood that he had been discovered, so he came out from underneath the vehicle.

While still lying on the ground, one of the individuals -whom he recognized as a port security officer by his green and brown camouflage uniform- reportedly put his foot on the respondent’s hand. The officers allegedly asked for his phone, using the English word “mobile”, and also said “burgha”, a word Dari and Farsi speakers use to refer to an ID card. The respondent, still on the ground, replied “no mobile.” The officers searched his outer clothing and found both his phone and his ID card, a red card identifying him as an asylum seeker. While he remained lying on the ground for about two minutes, the officers reportedly examined his phone.

He was then taken to the officers’ car in handcuffs and driven to their office within the port, a journey of less than five minutes. According to the respondent, once there, the officers instructed him to handcuff himself to a chair and sit down. As he was doing so, one of the officers reportedly slapped him hard across the face. The respondent described the slap as very painful and delivered with full force. The same officer then slapped him a second time, this time with slightly less force. The security staff then reportedly ordered him to unlock his phone, which he did. The officers examined it again. The respondent believed they were checking for videos taken inside the port, as he had heard that others had videos deleted by the security staff.

After examining the phone, he was reportedly slapped a third time, this time on the back of his neck. The port security officers then left the office, leaving the respondent handcuffed to the chair for approximately one and a half hours. He reported that other people were present in the office, wearing casual clothes and working at computers. They did not speak to him or acknowledge his presence until one of them eventually unlocked the handcuffs and released him.

Before he left, the officers told him (in English, which the respondent understands to some extent) that “next time he was caught, it would be more difficult for him.” His phone was returned to him, and as far as he could tell, nothing had been deleted or altered. This was the second time he had been caught by the port police. On the first occasion, he had been handcuffed and held in the same office but did not experience any physical violence. He stated that the treatment this time was much worse.

“I was disappointed. Everybody has their own personality and rights. Such behaviour damages that part in you. It is natural to feel disappointed. I knew they were catching me, but I was not expecting their beating. I know they are not behaving well towards refugees, but I was not expecting the beating.”