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37 images Created 8 Sep 2019

Hate Hurts_AmnestyMunich

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  • A refugee from Afghanistan: “The Hungarian police, they do like a Kosher, they take your skin and then they put a hook in it” He showed me a photo of his injuries.  Adasevci refugee camp, Serbia
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  • 'The Hungarian border police struck me with a baton and knives.'. a refugee from Pakistan recounted at the In Adasevci camp in Serbia. Unfortunately, the number of those that have been beaten, humiliated and tortured from border police is staggering.
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  • ‘They come on you when you are sleeping. This is what happened when dogs bit on face and hands. You can see the face. Here is a photo. This happened on the Hungarian border.’ Sid, June 2017.
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  • Argi has escaped from Kobani in Syria with his family after he was tortured by the regime and feared for his life. Unable to cross the border at Idomeni, he and his wife have found a little space to shelter just outside the doors of what once was an operating lift in the disused Hellenikon airport. This is how I met him when I entered the building hiding from the security. Still walking in crutches, he showed me graphic pictures of the violence inflicted on him. Visibly traumatised with his wife pregnant and children, he has not received any assistance ever since they arrived in Hellenikon over two weeks earlier.
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  • ‘We try the game almost everyday. We don’t have options. There is no life for us. The prospect of spending days just waiting with no work, no money, no home, nothing is painful. If I cannot go through the border, I will go back home. I will die with more dignity. This is a photo from the last time we tried..in the jungle.. we were pushed back.’ Belgrade, Serbia.
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  • 'The Hungarian border police struck me with batons and knives'- a refugee from Pakistan at the  Adasevci camp in Serbia recounted. The number of reports pointing to border police using violence on refugees is staggering. Refugees report on being beaten, humiliated and evem tortured.
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  • The systematic use of force sees the destruction of any evidence first. Refugees explain that upon been stopped by Croatian police at the borders they are immediately asked to give them their phones and money. They destroy their phones or keep them. Then they beat them savagely. Many have reported been exposed to electric batons, smashed bones and beaten on their knees.
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  • Miksaliste aid centre in Belgrade is the city's main support centre where refugees can receive basic medical help, clothes and the first assistance. Many come into the centre exhausted physically and psychologically,  from their horrendoeus journey, anxiety and at times encount of police violence.  I often had to resort to google translate to be able to communicate with refugees. As I asked how was the journey to Belgrade a refugee writes 'Beating'. Belgrade, Serbia
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  • Accounts point to refugees in Bosnia Hercegovina having experienced widespread atrocious and barbarous violence in the hands of Croatian border police. It seems that one of the most common abuse is to beat refugees on their knees. Many have had their knees smashed. This is photo of a refugee following the aftermath of police violence in which his knees were severely injured. M., Velika Kladusa, Bosnia Hercegovina.
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  • "They are cold people, the Bulgarian police. Even if you have a short time document pass, they still do the same thing. In the centre of Sofia, not at the border, they take everything from us, they took us to the jungle, the permit,  my money, mobile, they took everything and then they push us back."
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  • 'They sprayed on us- the Hungarian police. It was tear gas. I thought I was dying. I couldn't breath. They beat us. It was so difficult for all of us.’- refugee from Pakistan. Some refugees refuse to register into a camp because it means having to wait for a very long time. Recent regulations have diminished border entry to one person per day (Hungary, Serbia) prioritising women, children and refugees from Syria. This translates a life in a camp for years. The alternative is to risk ones life crossing the border illegally. Horgos refugee camp, Serbia.
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  • "The Hungarian police took my shoes, clothes and mobile phone. They told me to cross the river and had to walk for two days without shoes. It was winter. I arrived in a village in Turkey without clothes." refugee from Pakistan, Adasevci refugee camp, Serbia.
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  • He showed me a scar running through his arm. He says,'this happened when the Bulgarian police saw us.The Bulgarian police attacked us. That's the problem. They beat us. They don't care. We are too scared of them'.
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  • I met Mostafa as he was hiding along the border between Serbia/Croatia. He had been beaten many times. In the last event, he was beaten by the Bulgarian police and all his money and mobile phone was taken from him.
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  • "Bulgarian police here is not like in the rest of Europe. They don't respect you. They don't see us as human. They see us as another creature."  S.,Sofia, Bulgaria, 2018
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  • ‘I knew I was going to be beaten. A group of Bulgarian youths, maybe 12 of them, wearing black hoods covering their faces, came up to me and asked if I could speak Bulgarian. I knew that the question was to determine my refugee status and to ascertain that I was not able to seek help. They pushed me in the bus shelter so that I ha no escape routes. I was beaten but managed to escape running as fast as I could. When I was given medication at the Red Cross, the police was called and asked me what I wanted them to do. I said that Id did not care that those that beat me would be punished, but I wanted it to stop and protection so that we could go out without fearing for our lives.’ Mohamed, refugee from Afghanistan,Voempa Rampa, Sofia, Bulgaria.
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  • An Afghani boy, who later helped me to enter the disused Ellinikon airport unnoticed, was very keen that I would see with my own eyes the conditions of the space and report on it. Among those I have spoken to, many have asked that I would highlight and report and 'let the world know of their bad conditions'.
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  • In Lavrion refugee camp, many of the occupants are women and their children from Syria, who have travelled through Turkey. A. had a nice job and home in Syria which she had to flee from.
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  • ‘I was in the jungle for 5 days. When I tried to enter Bulgaria, I was pushed back. Some people died in the jungle because of no food, water and cold weather. I walked for 12 hours. If you don’t have money for an agent you are stuck. The agent is the only choice but they don't care for you.’ Karim, Sofia, Bulgaria.
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  • The struggle does not end at the Europe' borders. Control imposed on refugees goes beyond the tightened border security. Unwanted and undesirable people are kept in confined areas in what seems to be a politics of containment.
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  • I met O. (name undisclosed) from Nigeria at the RO.DO.PA centre, once a Residence Hotel in Battipaglia, south of Italy. The centre shelters mostly refugees from Africa. Those that have shared their experiences have recounted acts of extreme torture and segregation in Libya, where many have taken a boat from to reach Italy. O. recounted that being in Lybia was something indescribable. In fact, he said if I wanted to know, I should go there. There are no words that can describe that hell. O. -Ro.do.pa. centre, Battipaglia, near Salerno, south of Italy.
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  • In Lybia, I went through hell and I have scars on my body. I was in Italy but I was sent back. I have been in the jungle for weeks. The police comes on alternate mornings and we all have to dismount our tents and go out of the forest, otherwise they will break everything and beat you up. Calais, 2019
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  • I met M. in AC Krnjaca refugee camp just coming from an hospital. During the night he was trying to cross to Croatia and was beaten,. His arm was fractured. He recounts: ‘I was going to cross into Croatia border coming from Serbia. I had a lot of beating, bones broken. They left me in pain just lying on the floor, like that.’ M., AC Krnjaca refugee camp, Belgrade, Serbia.
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  • Yusuf (refugee from Afghanistan), rolls out an x-ray and points to where a bone from his shoulder was broken. The Bulgarian police broke his bone as he attempted to cross the border. Even in extreme pain, he was made to undress and leave all his belongings behind. Then was pushed back without clothes. Sid, Serbia
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  • Being pushed back and beaten by the Croatian border police. His foot was injured. He and his friends were trying to cross the border. They got caught and run away. He fell over a log lying on the ground. His leg was still over the log when the police reached him and kicked over the foot with all their strength. He showed me the x-ray that the medical team gave him on his release. G., Sid, Serbia
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  • Meisam is in Krnaca refugee camp is Serbia with his family. He confides: ‘ Bulgarian police beat us, they fight they make a lot of problems for refugees. We tried to cross with smugglers before but the police beat us all. They take everything from us.’AC Krnjaca, Serbia.
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  • Ellenikon, former Athens airport hosts hundreds of refugees in cramped conditions. In the days that I visited the facility many have complained of lack of water, crammed conditions and scarce food. Ellenikon, Greece.
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  • "We have tried to cross the border many times and we have been pushed back. One time police with masks on, find us. We were inside a van. They beat the driver. Then they open the door of the van and punched me. I heard many stories of violence from the police. This was my first time." - Belgrade refugee camp.
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  • Hundreds are just left stranded. There are so many refugees coming from the closed border of Idomeni that at one point there was no space left within the disused international airport of Ellinikon in Athens. A refugee from Afghanistan says: "it is so hard for us. We have nothing to do but wait in misery."- outside the disused international airport of Ellinikon, Athens, Greece.
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  • Many of the occupants in the camp of Lavrion are children. Many have come through Turkey and some even being trying to make a living in Turkey. As young as 12 years old work in textile factories in Turkey and the conditions are very harsh. We were made to work for 14 hours a day and not allowed to sit down"
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  • Refugees from Africa find it harder to prove their need for asylum. It leaves them to fend off for themselves. Without legal assistance, often they escape the legal system altogether putting themselves in further danger of exploitation. Without work, money and a place to stay, many African refugees resort to live in city parks or anywhere that can fend them. The Sudanese refugee centre in Athens is an informal space for the African refugees.  Amir from Sudan says  ‘it is a safe haven for the African communities as being away from the street protects them from being a target of hate crimes’. Amir, Athens.
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  • Refugees are often left to fend off for themselves. Without work, money and a place to stay, they  resort to live in city parks. Over time, this is unsustainable and some resort to squatting empty places. In this space, a relic house in Athens, over 30 people are crammed to sleep during the nights and many more use it during the day.
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  • "We were caught by the Bulgarian police. They beat us cruelly, they don’t look where they are beating, on which part of the body and I was beaten on my knee and my knee cup was busted<br />
I still have a problem in my knee, I feel pain, cannot walk normally. I was taken to a close camp, then to an open camp.<br />
I spent 40 days in the closed camp. They treat us and think of us as animals.They abuse us in the camp. It is really a bad situation for refugees in the camp in Bulgaria." M. refugee from Pakistan, Adasevci, Serbia.
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  • Bawafa has been separated by his mum and sister in Turkey. In Belgrade now, recounts the endless tries to cross the border, beatings and the painful separation from his mother and sister. Recounting the events that led to his separation and sharing his wish to be reunited, he silently cries.- Bawafa, refugee from Afghanistan, Belgrade, Serbia.
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  • "Bulgarian police here is not like in the rest of Europe. They don't respect you. They don't see us as human. They see us as another creature. I would like to go to the UK as I have been told people are treated better." Voenna  S.,Sofia, Bulgaria, 2018
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  • "They (Hungarian police) send dogs on you when you are asleep. This is a photo of my face after it happened. The dog bit my face and hands"- refugee from Pakistan, Adasevci refugee camp, Serbia
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