14 FRONTIER EUROPE Human rights abuses on Greece’s border with Turkey U., an 18-year-old Afghan asylum seeker in Turkey told Amnesty International how Greek border guards beat up his friend while they were being unlawfully sent back to Turkey on 19 November 2012: “We crossed the river at night-time and walked for almost a day. Near a Greek town, the police caught us. They called a van and this van took us back to the river. There were already around 20 people in the van when they picked us up. They were all Afghans. When we arrived at the river, the police kept us there in the van for three hours. It was very difficult as the van was very crowded and it smelled horrible. While we were in the van, my friend called the UN and some other organizations to ask their help. Shortly after this call, the police opened the van and asked who called the organizations. They took us out one by one and asked this. I guess one of us told them who had made the call because they then took my friend and beat him up with batons. Then they took our phones and our belts and deported us back to Turkey.” Amnesty International July 2013 Index: 25/008/2013