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We needed to run in the forest and through the river and we had to hide.

Date & Time 2021-11-24
Location Close to Korca
Reported by Anonymous Partner
Coordinates 40.6226774, 21.05693472
Pushback from Albania
Pushback to Greece
Taken to a police station yes
Minors involved no
WLTI* involved no
Men involved yes
Age 19 - 19
Group size 1
Countries of origin Morocco
Treatment at police station or other place of detention
Overall number of policemen and policewomen involved 5
Violence used no violence used
Police involved 2 Albanian officers wearing blue uniforms without any specific details; 3 Greek police officers, 2 of them in plainclothes with a civilian car

The respondent is a 19-year-old man from Morocco. He was pushed back from Albania to Greece on the 24th of November 2021.

The respondent was apprehended at a border control near Korçë. The respondent described being searched by officers but they reportedly didn’t confiscate anything. Then they proceeded to ask him questions regarding his personal information for around 15 minutes but didn’t take any pictures or his fingerprints. The respondent reported that the officers spoke to them in English. At this point the respondent wanted to ask for asylum but was scared, so he did not say anything. Directly after, they drove him to the border which was approximately 17 kilometers away. 

The respondent recalled that the border was near a highway in the woods. When they arrived there, the officers reportedly opened the door of the car and told the respondent he should cross the border and walk to Greece. 

On the Greek side, the respondent met two other Moroccan men and they started walking the way back to Thessaloniki together. They took a secluded path through the mountains to avoid the police. On the next day around 11 a.m., while they were taking a break close to the city Rahi, a car arrived with two men in plainclothes inside who expressed that they were police officers. The officers asked them where they were from and they said they were from Syria. The policemen called more police officers who arrived with a police car. They apprehended the respondent and his companions. The respondent and one of the others got in the civilian car and their companion in the police car. 

The respondent and the other man were brought to a police station in Veroia. The police station was surrounded by a short fence. They had to wait in front of the police station and were watched by one police officer. When this officer was distracted the respondent and his friend jumped over the fence and ran away. They were  followed by two police cars but managed to shake them off by running inside the forest and crossing a river. After they got rid of the police they followed the road back to Thessaloniki.