A young Syrian refugee was shot with live ammunition as he attempted to cross the border from Turkey to Bulgaria last October, according to an investigation by several media outlets.
Bulgaria says its border guards were at the scene but denied firing the bullet, while the investigation — published Monday by Dutch-based investigative outlet Lighthouse Reports, Le Monde, the Times, German public broadcaster ARD and others — quotes a forensics expert who says soundwaves from the video show the bullet was fired directly toward asylum seekers and came from the Bulgarian side.
The man was part of a group that attempted to cross the border into Bulgaria last October. The footage shows some of the group throwing stones toward the Bulgarian border.
Identified as 19-year-old Abdullah Mohammed from Syria, the refugee was injured in the chest and arm as the bullet struck near his heart, according to a medical report from the Turkish hospital where his wounds were treated. Mohammed survived the shooting, but told reporters that his left hand is half-paralyzed.
Sofia has denied all the accusations of aggressive tactics. “There are no cases of violence against migrants,” Bulgaria’s Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev told reporters on Monday.
According to the European Council on Refugees and Exiles, 10,999 people applied for asylum in Bulgaria in 2021. A third of these were of Syrian origin.
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