İSTANBUL - Claiming that a commander threw a group of refugees into the Maritza River after they were extradited to Turkey by Greece, told  MA what he witnessed. Surviving the incident in which 5 people lost their lives, the witness said the commander waved at them and said goodbye after he threw them into the river and take a video of them drowning.

 

Following the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, racist attacks against refugees and immigrants in Turkey was widely discussed. A refugee claimed that 45 men and boys from a group of 150 refugees were thrown into the river by a Gendarmerie Commander in Maritza River.

 

The incident where 5 people lost their lives reflected to the press when 24 year-old Syrian refugee Sad El Delli who survived the incident applied to the Lawyers for Freedom Association (ÖHD) İstanbul Branch.

 

Sad El Delli, whom we reached after the statement made by the association on the subject, told about what happened that day.

 

Expressing that he left his family in Deir ez-Zor 5 years ago and came to Turkey due to the civil war that broke out in his country Syria, Delli stated that he plans to go to Europe from there. Saying that he had tried to cross into Greece twice before, told that both of his attempts were unsuccessful. Delli also said that they crossed over to Greece on August 23, Monday with a group of 150 people. 

 

'TURKISH SOLDIERS ARE DYING IN SYRIA WHILE YOU ARE GOING TO EUROPE'

 

Delli told what happened as follows: “We were 150 people and we went to Greece in groups of 50-60 people. We were predominantly Syrians, but there were also refugees from Afghanistan, Palestine and Egypt among us. On August 23, we wanted to go to Greece with a group of 60 people. When we reached the border, the Greek police asked us, 'Why did you come here?' We said, 'We want to pass to Greece'. The border police immediately detained us. We were detained at around 03:00 at night and held until 11:00 on Tuesday morning. Then we were sent back to Turkey. When we came back to Edirne, Turkish gendarmerie saw us and came to us. Among them was a person they called 'commander'. That person said:, 'Turkish soldiers are dying in Syria and yet you are thinking about going to Europe. Go away to Europe."

 

MEN AND BOYS OVER 10 WERE THROWN INTO THE RIVER

 

Stating that the gendarmerie later separated the women and children under the age of 10 in the group, Delli said that 45 male refugees, including himself, were thrown into the Maritza River.

 

Delli said, “The person they call the commander gave the order to the soldiers to throw us into the water in groups of five. Even the soldiers warned him not to do it. We told him 'Don't do it, there are some of us who can't swim' but they didn't listen to us and threw us into the river.

 

'GREEK POLICE TOOK ALL OUR CLOTHES EXCEPT OUR UNDERWEAR'

 

Explaining that some people in the group managed to swim to the shore, Delli continued: “I was in danger of drowning after swimming for 15 minutes. Two Palestinians saved me. Those who knew how to swim helped the children. We wanted to swim to Greece as soon as possible. Because if we stayed, they would throw us back into the river. There were 14 people swimming with me. I don't know about the others. When we crossed to Greece, we were detained again by the border police and held for 5 hours. The Greek police took off all our clothes, except for our underwear. They sent us back to Turkey.”

 

'I WAS FIVE PEOPLE DROWNING'

 

Stating that those who could not swim drowned in the river because of a current, Delli said that he witnessed 5 people drowning, 3 Syrians and 2 Afghans. Delli said, “I saw 5 people drowning with my own eyes. I don't know about the rest. I don't know what happened to them. 14 of us came back but I don't know about the others. Everyone was worried about their own life.”

 

'THEY THREW US INTO THE RIVER AND WAVED GOOD-BYE!'

 

Expressing that they want the commander who ordered them to be thrown into the river to be punished, Delli said, “We don't know his name, but I would recognize him if I saw him. There are other people who witnessed what happened like me. We'll tell everything. There are enough against him to be punished. Because those who lost their lives are not guilty. I have seen those who drowned with my own eyes. I don't want to go to Europe anymore.  We said 'Don't throw us into the river, send us back to Idlib', but he threw us into the river and took a video of us in the river, waved  'goodbye' while throwing other groups into the river."

 

Stating that he could not sleep at night anymore after that incident he experienced while he was just a refugee fleeing the war, Delli said, “They showed us death. I look in the mirror for hours and wonder if I'm still alive. They traumatized us. We want justice."

 

MA / Diren Yurtsever