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MSF calls on EU to increase scrutiny into border force activities as its teams treat patients for violence-related injuries

24 Oct 23
This article is more than one year old

MSF calls on EU to increase scrutiny into border force activities as its teams treat patients for violence-related injuries

29 March 2023

An MSF doctor and nurse discuss with a patient during a medical consultation inside the mobile clinic in Pirot, in the south Serbian-Bulgarian border region. Since January 2023, the MSF medical team in Pirot has treated 1,944 patients, out of who 24.4% were assessed and treated for traumatic injuries, like frostbites, trench foot, and general signs of physical exhaustion, caused mostly by the harsh conditions of their journey. Caption
An MSF doctor and nurse discuss with a patient during a medical consultation inside the mobile clinic in Pirot, in the south Serbian-Bulgarian border region. Since January 2023, the MSF medical team in Pirot has treated 1,944 patients, out of who 24.4% were assessed and treated for traumatic injuries, like frostbites, trench foot, and general signs of physical exhaustion, caused mostly by the harsh conditions of their journey.
© Evgenia Chorou/MSF

Following a recent visit to the Serbia-Hungary border by top EU officials, international medical organisation Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) calls for increased EU scrutiny into violence against refugees, migrants and asylum seekers at Europe’s borders.

Patients wait for a medical consultation at the MSF mobile clinic in Pirot, in the south Serbian-Bulgarian border region. After the Reception Center (RC) in Pirot reopened in November 2022, MSF started activities in the area in January 2023 with one mobile clinic providing primary health care, food and non-food items distribution. Caption
Patients wait for a medical consultation at the MSF mobile clinic in Pirot, in the south Serbian-Bulgarian border region. After the Reception Center (RC) in Pirot reopened in November 2022, MSF started activities in the area in January 2023 with one mobile clinic providing primary health care, food and non-food items distribution.
© Evgenia Chorou/MSF

Since January 2021, MSF medical teams working in the Serbia-Hungary border region have treated 498 people for trauma injuries, including contusions, haematoma and closed fractures, after reported violence at the hands of border authorities.

 

“The physical injuries we treat and the accounts of violence we hear from our patients indicate the continuous intentional use of violence to deter people from seeking asylum in the EU,” says Duccio Staderini, MSF head of mission in the Western Balkans.

 

MSF patients treated near Serbia’s borders with Bulgaria report being stripped of their clothes and belongings, being beaten up with batons and branches, having dogs released on them, and having pepper spray and teargas used against them.

An MSF nurse discusses with a patient during a medical consultation at the bus station in the mobile clinic in Pirot, in the south Serbian-Bulgarian border region. MSF started activities in the area in January 2023 with one mobile clinic providing primary health care, food and non-food items distribution in two locations. Caption
An MSF nurse discusses with a patient during a medical consultation at the bus station in the mobile clinic in Pirot, in the south Serbian-Bulgarian border region. MSF started activities in the area in January 2023 with one mobile clinic providing primary health care, food and non-food items distribution in two locations.
© Evgenia Chorou/MSF

Other forms of inhumane and degrading treatment reported by MSF patients include the confiscation and destruction of personal belongings, off-the-book containment in isolated solitary confinement cells in the border zone, and intentionally induced falls from fences and ladders.

 

EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson and newly appointed Chief of FRONTEX (the European Border and Coast Guard Agency) visited the official border crossing between Horgos, in Serbia, and Roszke, in Hungary, on 16 March, where violent pushbacks by border guards are a regular occurrence. On her visit, Johansson praised the success of the joint border control in curbing “illegal migration” to Europe.

“The physical injuries we treat and the accounts of violence we hear from our patients indicate the continuous intentional use of violence to deter people from seeking asylum.” 

DUCCIO STADERINI
|
MSF HEAD OF MISSION-WESTERN BALKANS

“EU representatives have intentionally decided to turn a blind eye to the excessive use of violence that we witness at the EU’s external borders,” says Staderini. “This visit shows the real face of EU engagement in the Western Balkans: more funding for security, a greater presence of FRONTEX, and increased returns and surveillance.”

 

Two years ago, FRONTEX suspended its operations on the Hungarian side of the border with Serbia following a court ruling that Hungary had breached EU law by committing illegal pushbacks of migrants arriving from Serbia. In December 2022, FRONTEX moved its operations to the Serbian side of the border as part of the EU’s project to externalise migration management to neighbouring third countries.

An MSF-staff provides clothing to patients who wait for a medical consultation at the MSF mobile clinic in Pirot, in the south Serbian-Bulgarian border region. After the Reception Center (RC) in Pirot reopened in November 2022, MSF started activities in the area in January 2023 with one mobile clinic providing primary health care, food and non-food items distribution. Caption
An MSF-staff provides clothing to patients who wait for a medical consultation at the MSF mobile clinic in Pirot, in the south Serbian-Bulgarian border region. After the Reception Center (RC) in Pirot reopened in November 2022, MSF started activities in the area in January 2023 with one mobile clinic providing primary health care, food and non-food items distribution.
© Evgenia Chorou/MSF

MSF teams have worked in Serbia since 2014, providing medical care to refugees, migrants and asylum seekers travelling to Europe on the Balkan route. In January 2021, MSF teams started working in the north Serbia-Hungary border region, and in January 2023, MSF opened an emergency project in the south Serbia-Bulgaria border region.

“EU member states are continuing to prioritise the protection of borders over the protection and wellbeing of people. This must stop.”

DUCCIO STADERINI
|
MSF HEAD OF MISSION - WESTERN BALKANS

Crossing the border from Bulgaria to Serbia involves a walk of three to four days on forested mountain tracks. The people making this journey often have no food, water or shelter and face harsh weather conditions. In February, two people, including a child, died from cold on this route. This year, MSF teams in Pirot, on the Serbian side of the border, have provided medical treatment to 1,944 people for conditions including frostbite, trench foot, infected injuries, fevers, skin lesions, blisters and general signs of physical exhaustion.

 

MSF has extensively denounced the violent practices perpetrated on refugees, asylum seekers and migrants at Europe’s borders since 2014.