“Then they took them to the river and there they took their shoes, put them in this small ship, a little boat, and then they crossed the river. So they had no shoes.”
When the respondent was coming from Turkey to Greece the police caught him and they took everything from him, even his shoes, shirt and trousers. This happened around October 15, 2018. He tried to enter Greece 5 times, 4 times he failed. His first attempt was around the 1st of October 2018.
The first time, by hiding from the Turkish police – they managed to enter into Greece. They spent around half a day hiding and then they entered Greece. They spent the other half a day and a whole night in the forest. And then they bought a ticket for the bus at the Alexandroupoli station. Here, the police caught him. They were placed in a room, a small prison room, and the police did not give them water or food. The room was really cold.
When it became morning, they took everything from them. Everything. The telephone, money, extra clothes, shoes, … Then they took them to the river and there they took their shoes, put them in this small ship, a little boat, and then they crossed the river. So they had no shoes. For nine or ten hours they walked around like this. A thorn from a plant entered into his foot sole. This was back in Turkey again. They were walking for nine or ten hours, they walked around and then they found some old shoes and clothes that they could use.
The same thing happened again and again the next three times, with him and the others as well. But the fourth time, the last time they were pushed back, they went to a Turkish village. On the last time, when they deported them to Turkey, they went to one of the villages in Turkey. The people in the village gave them some food and shoes. When he took the food, the clothes and shoes he tried again to return to Greece. And this time, he was able to cross the border and again take a ticket for the bus and come to Thessaloniki.
He stayed in Thessaloniki for 3 weeks – in the open area, parks, the abandoned building etc. In these 3 weeks he also went 2 times to the police station for a police document or police paper. He said to the commander of the police – “I am new here, I want a police document”. He said to him we can not arrest you for now, right now you have to leave the police station. Whenever we wish to arrest you we can give you a police paper for one month. Also, the commander of the police added – if we arrest you we will keep you in jail for 24 hours. If we keep you in jail and give you a police note – we will give you one for 1 month and you have to leave Greece within this one month.
Sometimes they beat us. There were 25 people in his group when they tried to enter into Greece. He saw many other people – 12 or 13 people in another group. And he saw people when they were deporting them, only in their underwear. He saw these people at the Turkish border. The people were all mostly from Afghanistan, from different parts of the region, and only 2 or 3 from Pakistan.
The first time there were no families, only men and boys. The second and third time there also families and women in our group. When he was arrested in Alexandroupoli, they put them inside the car. The car was full, you could not see the outside, a closed car. Then they took them and drove them to the “room” (a small cell); it was close to the police station, but about 20 meters outside of it there was a small room where they put them into. They were not alone. It depended on the police, how many persons they took. One time he noticed they put 50 people in that same cell. The cell was around 5 minutes away from the police station by car. He was put in the cell four times, because each time he tried to cross over at Alexandroupoli.
During his first time he had one mobile phone that they took from him. On the 2nd, 3rd and 4th time he did not have a phone because they had already taken it and he had no money to buy a new one. Because they had taken his money as well. He had 50 euro in his belt to buy a ticket to Thessaloniki. They took that when they brought him to the cell.
The respondent states they were not allowed to talk to the police. When you did try to talk, they caught your mouth and tried to beat you. They only spoke to them in the bus station, when they asked them where they were from. They stayed in the police cell from 7 o clock in the morning up to 7 o clock in the evening. It was dark and also very cold. There was nothing to eat or drink. No water.
At 7pm, they brought a car to drive them to a place at the border. It was like a truck. Like a grey color, a soldier's truck. They arrived at a lake. After that they brought a small boat and put them inside that boat. They brought them to Turkey.
The police that caught them, they were without uniforms. They were wearing normal clothes. Each of the four times, when they were arresting him, they were without uniform. The police were standing around the corner of the bus station. They knew around what time the bus depart from the bus station. 8 AM and 10 AM [and 11 AM?]. Then the police come and take people.
The respondent was asked how he knew that they are police?
He responded saying ‘Because I saw them many times. When they were getting us at the station, I saw a gun at their belt and a small radio – walkie talkie – from this I understood that they were police. And from the car as well.‘ It was the same police who brought them to the border.
The respondent claims that clothes were taken and collected whilst they were in the cell. They were then burned close to the river. When they were taking them to the border, before they put them into the boat, they took off the shoes of the single male adults.
Before they took them to the boat, they started beating them with a plastic stick. From the police station to the border it takes about 20 to 25 minutes. The border looked like a jungle. Tall trees. That road is not cement but full of sand. There were no lights nearby, just forest.