Hamdi Firat Buyuk and Svetoslav TodorovSarajevo, SofiaBIRNDecember 2, 202216:02A Turkish NGO says pushbacks of migrants at the Turkey-Bulgaria border are frequent and inhumane, as Turkish media report a migrant died of cold after an alleged Bulgarian pushback.
A refugee family walks by small river in Edirne city centre as they try to reach the border, 10 March 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE/TOLGA BOZOGLU
Turkish media reported that a migrant allegedly pushed back on Friday morning by Bulgarian security forces to Turkey in freezing conditions had died. Another was left in a seriously bad condition and put in hospital.
Turkey’s Demiroren News Agency reported the deadly incident and photographed it at the border and in the hospital.
The alleged death has not been reported on by Bulgarian media and has not been officially confirmed. Bulgaria’s Interior Ministry did not answer BIRN’s questions on the allegation by time of publication.
The local human rights NGO, the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, told BIRN it also had no information about the case.
“In summer or winter times, push back is an inhumane method. Push back is also a serious violation of international law,” said Piril Ercoban, General Coordinator at Multeci-Der, a Turkish civil rights organisation working on refugee rights.
According to Ercoban, pushbacks are frequent on Turkey’s borders with Greece and Bulgaria.
“It has become a routine since 2020. In both countries, the majority of migrants who try to cross the border were pushed back. Their phones, money, phones, personal documents and shoes were usually taken by security forces,” Ercoban claimed.
Turkish daily Yeni Safak, reporting on what it called “Bulgarian cruelty”, said Bulgarian security forces have stripped refugees of their clothes and pushed them back to Turkey in freezing conditions.
One of the two migrants in this case was found frozen to death by Turkish gendarmerie and the other was found in seriously bad conditions and hospitalised.
Ercoban added that this practice is not legal and is a violation of human rights. “Taking their clothes in winter means sending them to death,” he added.
As Greece increases its border security, more refugees may be trying to use the Bulgarian route, Ercoban said.
Human Rights Watch HRW and other groups have repeatedly documented how the Greek Coast Guard and security forces abandoned migrants at sea and pushed them back to Turkey. Greece’s actions have been condemned by European Court of Human Rights.
Turkey is meanwhile hosting the world’s largest migrant population, becoming an hub between the war-torn Middle East and Europe.
According to Turkey, there are nearly 4 million refugees in the country but experts claim that the real number is likely higher, due to a failure to register all refugees.
Bulgarian authorities have been describing an unprecedented flow of migrants in the last few months. On November 8, Bulgaria’s Ministry of Interior stated that 12,000 people had been detained since the beginning of the year, with several arrests.
Source link: balkaninsight.com
