both in uniforms and civilian clothes, according to asylum seekers’ testimonies shared with the Aegean Boat Report, UNHCR, GCR, and Greek Helsinki Monitor and some of them also before the Public Prosecutor. Then, asylum seekers were forced and locked into the container. They remained locked inside for around an hour, during which one of them managed to send a video along with their location to the Aegean Boat Report using a mobile phone the asylum seeker had not handed over to the officers. After an hour of informal detention, masked men in fully black clothes came inside the container. Image 10: Picture of the container that is located in the exact location where the refugees sent their location on WhatsApp, video is filmed inside, as published by the Aegean Boat Report. 38 “We remained in the container for around an hour, when [...] masked men in fully black clothes came inside and started searching us. They were very aggressive, we got so scared. They were violent to all except for the children. Our money, phones and bags were taken [...] Only one woman managed to hide a mobile phone on her child.” Victim of pushback, Lesvos island. According to a victim’s testimony, the masked men hit the men and women in the container, when they were searching for their mobile phones. During the body search, they also sexually assaulted and humiliated the women by groping their breasts. Afterwards, they ordered the people to get out of the container and forced them into a black van with dark windows and no seats. Finally, the van arrived at a port, where men in dark military uniforms and balaclavas forced the asylum seekers to board a high-speed boat. While at sea they were thrown from the boat into a life raft in which they were abandoned. “They brought us to a port where there were many fishing boats, and forced us to board a speedboat. I do not recall much details after that as I was very scared. After a while at sea, masked men pulled out an inflated orange rubber, put it in the water and violently threw us all on it. They immediately departed after that.” Victim of pushback, Lesvos island AT EUROPE’S BORDERS: BETWEEN IMPUNITY AND CRIMINALIZATION

Select target paragraph3

Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents