Despite blanket denials from Greek authorities, “pushbacks” in the Aegean Sea and Greece’ Evros border region are a horrifying reality. For years, the Legal Centre Lesvos has collected hundreds of testimonies of survivors of border violence. Together with Fitilia, over the next year we will publish a series of these anonymized* accounts, with the intention to show that behind every statistic, there is a person risking their life to reach Europe. While these stories highlight the brutality and violence of Greek and European border policies, they are also stories of resisting border regimes. They are a call to action – a stark reminder of the urgent need to continue the fight to dismantle the borders that surround us and with it the violence of Fortress Europe.
*All identifying details, including names and exact dates have been removed, however, the stories published remain true to the survivors’ own accounts, and all have consented to the publishing of their testimonies.
He Kept Screaming The Only English Sentence He Knew
One cold night in spring, around 1 am we left Çanakkale for the shore. We were 26, maybe 28 people. The youngest of us was a baby of maybe one year and the oldest was a sixty year old grandma. I think we were about ten women, ten children and five or six men. I was traveling with my seventeen year old brother. [read more]
We Were Moving With The Waves
Our journey started in September, around 10pm. We left the smuggler’s place for Izmir. I remember we were exactly thirty two people. I wanted to know how many we were so if someone got lost or if our dinghy sank I would know how many people were missing. There were fifteen, maybe sixteen children, seven women including myself and around 10 men. [read more]
Just Two Single Men And One Minor Managed Run Away
We left from Canakkale, Turkey in a super cold winter nig 2022. I was with my husband and my two- and seven-year-old children. There were 45 people in the boat, including 15 children and 18 women. [read more]