Migrants face ‘unprecedented rise in violence’ in EU borders, report finds

Asylum seekers beaten and sexually assaulted before being illegally removed, says Border Violence Monitoring Network

Thousands of migrants and asylum seekers are facing an unprecedented rise in violence" at the EU's border, including beatings, forced undressing and sexual assaults, according to a report exposing thousands of alleged illegal expulsions in harrowing detail.

Activists interviewed 733 individuals trying to reach Europe in 2021 and 2022, who provided grim testimony of group pushbacks that affected more than 16,000 others. The work updates the 2020 edition of The Black Book of Pushbacks, offering a total compilation of 1,633 individuals telling of illegal expulsions affecting nearly 25,000 people since 2017.