Summary and analysis of pushbacks and internal violence documented by BVMN during the month of MARCH
In March, the Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN) shared 36 testimonies of pushbacks impacting 762 people-on-the-move across the Balkans. This report brings together first-hand testimonies from a range of countries in the region to look at the way European Union states and other actors are affecting systemic violence towards people crossing borders.
BVMN is a network of watchdog organisations active in Greece and the Western Balkans including No Name Kitchen, Rigardu, Are You Syrious, MobileInfoTeam, Push-back Alarm Austria, Josoor, InfoKolpa, Centre for Peace Studies, BlindSpots, Mare Liberum, and Collective Aid. Combining insights from these different members, this month’s report covers:
- the continued inland pushbacks of documented PoM in Greece
- interim measures granted: ECtHR demanded that the Greek authorities give shelter to 34 PoM stranded on Evros
- actions of far-right group People’s Patrol at the squats near Subotica
- a pregnant woman seeking asylum in Samos losing her child
- Athens and Thessaloniki police operations
- developments on the Polish-Ukrainian border
Read the full report for more information on these topics, as well as further updates from the region including: the latest developments in the situation in Kljuc, a report by the Greek Council for Refugees and Oxfam on the new Closed Controlled Access Centre (C.C.A.C.) on Samos, and the publication of EU correspondence.