Published : 07-12-2022
Palestinian asylum seekers among other migrants have been subjected to violence on the Bulgarian borders.
Many have been violently beaten by border guards and/or have been stripped of their clothes and personal belongings.
A recent investigation by Sky News, Lighthouse Reports and European media partners uncovered allegations of abuses against asylum seekers taking place in a makeshift jail run by Bulgarian border forces.
"When they caught us, they beat the hell out of us... they stripped us naked... shaved our brows with a Gillette razor," said Nackman, a 34-year-old refugee who claims he was detained for several hours in the so-called "cage" in Sredets.
"Then there was this wooden room that could only fit 20 people, but they forced 60 people into it; even an animal couldn't survive in that wooden room. It has the worst odour ever, so if you need to use the toilet, you'll just go to the side. They won't look at you with human eyes."
Other asylum seekers claimed they were held for several days. Some reported they were attacked by dogs, beaten and humiliated by officials before being forced back to Turkey.
"After they threw me in the container, they unleashed the dogs. It was me and a young child. He was 12 years old. He was bitten by the dogs and so was I," one man said.
Bulgaria has also been accused of shooting a refugee after a video emerged showing a young man from Syria being fired at on the border with Turkey.
Palestinian asylum seekers among other migrants have been subjected to violence on the Bulgarian borders.
Many have been violently beaten by border guards and/or have been stripped of their clothes and personal belongings.
A recent investigation by Sky News, Lighthouse Reports and European media partners uncovered allegations of abuses against asylum seekers taking place in a makeshift jail run by Bulgarian border forces.
"When they caught us, they beat the hell out of us... they stripped us naked... shaved our brows with a Gillette razor," said Nackman, a 34-year-old refugee who claims he was detained for several hours in the so-called "cage" in Sredets.
"Then there was this wooden room that could only fit 20 people, but they forced 60 people into it; even an animal couldn't survive in that wooden room. It has the worst odour ever, so if you need to use the toilet, you'll just go to the side. They won't look at you with human eyes."
Other asylum seekers claimed they were held for several days. Some reported they were attacked by dogs, beaten and humiliated by officials before being forced back to Turkey.
"After they threw me in the container, they unleashed the dogs. It was me and a young child. He was 12 years old. He was bitten by the dogs and so was I," one man said.
Bulgaria has also been accused of shooting a refugee after a video emerged showing a young man from Syria being fired at on the border with Turkey.
