spiegel.de | 2 February 2022
Torture Allegations Against Greek Border Guards
It took less than two hours for the border guards to find them. Parvin A., a young woman from Iran, snuck through the forest near the Greek-Turkish border on the evening of Feb. 18, 2020. Thirteen refugees, most from Iran and Afghanistan, were traveling with her. They crossed the border river, the Evros, near Edirne, Turkey, into Greece, where they wanted to apply for asylum in the European Union. Parvin recalls how she hurried from tree to tree, taking cover in the darkness. But then they came to a clearing in the forest.
Parvin still remembers the headlights that suddenly shone on them. As she laid on the ground, she could see the border guards' boots and hear dogs panting. The men confiscated Parvin’s backpack with her savings, 1,000 euros, which she had wrapped in a small bag. Parvin says she was also made to hand over her winter jacket and power bank.
The only thing they didn’t take from Parvin was her mobile phone, which she had hidden in her bra and, later, in her shoe. That’s the only reason she can now prove what later happened to her.