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from Bulgaria to Turkey,

The main respondent is a 27-year-old Syrian man. According to the respondent, on the 1st of December 2023, together with 13 other people, also from Syria, he started moving from Turkey towards Bulgaria at around 7 p.m. to cross the border. He reports that as soon as they had crossed the Bulgarian border by about 500 metres close to the highway, the group was met first by some dogs and then by a police patrol with a blue and white car from which four officers in dark blue uniforms and ski masks got out. Based on the description of the uniforms it could match with the uniforms usually worn by the Bulgarian Gendarmerie. The respondent reports that five people from the group managed to escape to nearby fields and forest, while the other nine people were detained by the police until 5 a.m.
The respondent reports that he was not allowed to speak and that all his personal belongings and clothes were taken away. According to him, during the hours they were detained, they were repeatedly hit with sticks, kicked and punched and forced to lie on the ground. The respondent reports that no documents were translated into Arabic and that at dawn on 2 December, the group of people were let loose and through shouting, insults and the use of dogs they were forced to return to Turkey, with few clothes and in the cold and snow.
The respondent claims that after this incident he and his brother had several panic attacks and insomnia problems. The respondent reports that he personally was beaten many times at the ankles and knees to the extent that he still has difficulty walking and posturing.