not possible to locate the Syrian nationals”. Meanwhile, on the same day GCR lost communication with the group and had no news of them until 28 April. On 15 April, GCR lawyers once again sent a request for information to the Greek Authorities to which the latter replied that “there is no new development regarding the location of the aforementioned group of persons”. On the same day, GCR requested interim measures from the ECtHR. On 19 April, the Court granted interim measures and ordered that the asylum seekers should not be removed from Greece. By that time, it was already too late, as GCR would later discover that people had been pushed back to Turkey on 14 April, as described in detail below. Inhuman treatment on the islet: According to the asylum seekers’ testimonies shared with GCR on 28 April, on 14 April between 22:00 to 23:00, four Greek-speaking men in military uniforms and black full face masks, carrying flashlights and weapons, appeared on the islet. When the uniformed men realized that the people could not understand Greek, they started speaking in poor English, urging them to stand up and form lines. Two masked men were pointing guns at the asylum seekers, the other two were conducting body searches at gunpoint, including on women and children. They also illegally confiscated their mobile phones, money and other valuable items like watches and jewelry. During the body search, the women were sexually harassed, with the men groping their breasts and genitalia. In one case, the uniformed men tore a woman’s jacket and discarded it in the mud because she was refusing to take it off in front of them. The temperatures that night were extremely low and the woman had no other clothes to keep herself warm. The people reiterated their request for international protection. The men in military uniforms started beating everyone, including the children, on their heads and backs. Violent transfer to the Greek river bank: An hour later, approximately at midnight, the uniformed men led at gunpoint the asylum seekers to an inflatable boat near the river. When they arrived near the river, the asylum seekers saw approximately 14 more people, of whom 10 to 11 wore military uniforms. Others were described as members of the police force, their uniforms displaying a police badge. All of them wore full face masks. The asylum seekers were separated into 6 groups. Two of the men in military uniforms got into the inflatable boat and transferred the first group to the Greek river bank. The boat returned and repeated the trip five more times with the remaining members of the group. A member of the group who refused to get on the boat was beaten on his arms and back with a piece of wood by an unknown number of uniformed men. All the other members of the group were too scared to react after the violence they had suffered and witnessed. They feared that the authorities would throw them in the river. Immediately after disembarking at the river bank, the asylum seekers were violently placed in two minivans with a maximum capacity of 10 people. AT EUROPE’S BORDERS: BETWEEN IMPUNITY AND CRIMINALIZATION 17