Coordinator of the Syrian Opposition Coalition’s (SOC) Department of Refugee Affairs, Salim Idris, said that the abuses that asylum seekers are enduring while trying to cross the Bulgarian border contradicts the states’ commitment to upholding mechanisms for protecting people during their movement.
Idris denounced the reports about Bulgarian border police opening fire at asylum seekers, describing this act as flying in the face of the European Union’s claims of defending and promoting human rights.
Idris called on the transit countries to protect asylum seekers fleeing the brutality of a criminal regime that rules with iron and fire.
Western media reported that a Syrian young man was shot and almost killed while trying to cross the Turkish-Bulgarian border with a group of asylum seekers.
The Action Group for the Palestinians of Syria said that Palestinian-Syrian asylum seekers were subjected to violations at the Bulgarian border while trying to reach the European Union countries, passing through Bulgaria and departing from Turkish territory.
The London-based monitoring group indicated that the asylum seekers were subjected to severe beatings with batons at the hands of the Bulgarian border police, who also used live ammunition and dogs to intimidate them. The Bulgarian police also stripped the asylum seekers of all their personal belongings, including mobile phones, warm clothes and bags.
On their perilous journey to the European Union countries, asylum seekers suffer tremendous hardships that sometimes lead to death by drowning in rivers and lakes as well as due to fatigue, not to mention the frequent use of excessive force by border guards. (Source: SOC’s Media Department)
