About a thousand Syrian refugees beaten, frightened and hungry, are waiting to cross the Macedonian border. They are currently located in the zone between the Greek border crossing “Evzoni” and the Macedonian, “Bogorodica”. 

CIVIL Media, in a telephone conversation with R.M, one of the refugees, received information on the torture by the Macedonian police. He says the police beats them when they try to enter Macedonia.

“When someone tries to enter Macedonia, the police hits them strongly and sends them back. Anyone who tries to enter Macedonia, is returned after being beaten. There are injured people here and we are stuck, we have nowhere else to go. About a thousand of us are close to Gevgelija”, he told us.

On the other hand, the Spokesperson of the Macedonian Ministry of Interior, Ivo Kotevski, says that the MOI is acting in accordance with the laws.

“We have intensified pressure from the south side by illegal immigrants seeking to cross into Macedonia. We are taking all legal measures and responsibilities we have. Persons who shall succeed to cross into Macedonia illegally, will be treated according to the law on asylum”, says Kotevski.

CIVIL Media has also contacted the Greek Embassy in Macedonia, where we were informed that there has been no torture by the Greek police.

Today is the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.