Oxfam: Refugees brutally abused in Bulgaria

A new report sponsored by the British charity Oxfam accuses the Bulgarian authorities of exercising brutality toward refugees.

The report by the Belgrade Center for Human Rights said on Friday that refugees crossing the country en route to wealthy European states faced beatings, threats and other abuses by police.

The group said its report is based on the testimony of refugees from Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq, who often take dangerous boat journeys from Turkey and Greece or through the Balkan states to the shores of Europe.

They have cited numerous cases of extortion, shootings, beatings by Bulgaria police and pistol-whippings, it said.

A refugee told the rights group that he had to pay a 400-euro bribe to a Bulgarian police officer after being arrested near Sofia. Another refugee claimed that a policeman hit him with a piece of a tree as he was crossing a checkpoint to enter Serbia.

In a separate incident, a refugee said a policeman pressed a gun to his forehead, beat him and took his and his companions’ money, mobile phones and valuable things.

An Afghan refugee was shot dead near the Turkey-Bulgaria border on October 15, prompting UN condemnation.

Nikolina Milic from the human rights body has called for an investigation into the incidents.

“The dramatic and shocking ill-treatment of people fleeing conflict and poverty is totally unacceptable, particularly in an EU member state,” she said.

Stefano Baldini, Oxfam’s director for South East Europe, said, “In light of the reported abuses, the European Union has to intervene and take concrete action to protect basic human rights within its borders.”

According to the latest figures released by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 798,792 refugees have reached Europe’s shores so far this year while a total of 3,455 people have either died or gone missing in their perilous journey to the continent.

European officials are divided over how to deal with refugees, most of whom are fleeing conflict-hit zones in Africa and the Middle East.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.ir