VIOLENT PUSHBACKS
August 2021
I
‘I had to translate for everyone they were going to kill us’
The testimonies collected reveal that the interviewees typically stayed in a hotel in Minsk for a few days before being transferred to the Latvian border by taxi or private cars in small groups. Several of the interviewees had previously unsuccessfully attempted to cross the Lithuanian or Polish border where some of them were separated from their families. Some individuals reported they crossed the Latvian border at a place where there were no Belarusian border guards; whereas some reported Belarusian border guards helped them cross the border.
On 10 August 2021, after the introduction of the state of emergency, the Latvian authorities started to turn back third-country nationals who had irregularly crossed the Latvian border from Belarus or attempted to do so – irrespective of their wish to claim asylum. Over the subsequent days, people were pushed back and forth between Latvia and Belarus, as Belarusian border guards did not allow them to return to Minsk and the Latvian authorities did not allow their entry.
‘I came to Belarus on 7 August 2021 and stayed in Minsk for three days. On 10 August I travelled to the Latvia-Belarus border by taxi. I wanted to claim asylum. Altogether we were five people: me, three men and one woman. After we arrived at the border, we walked around nine kilometres inside the Latvian territory and reached a small village with several houses. Someone from the village saw us and called the border guards. When they arrived we thought they were going to take us to a refugee camp but instead they put us in their car and drove us back to the Belarus border. They hit us by police sticks and told us, ‘Don’t come again. If you come again, we will hurt you more.’
After we were returned to the Belarusian side, we wanted to go back to Minsk. But the Belarus border guards told us it was impossible as we had crossed the border illegally and our names were now on the black list. We begged them to let us go back to Minsk and offered them money in exchange but they told we could only go to Latvia. They put us in a car, took us to the border and sent us back to Latvia. Then the Latvian border guards caught us with the help of patrol dogs, beat us up again and sent us back to Belarus. We asked them why they did not let us in. They told us we did not have any chance to enter Latvia. [We were pushed back and forth] for three days. After three days Latvian border guards beat us and told their dogs to attack us. They said, ‘If you don’t return to the other side, you will have to run or they will catch you.’
Interviewee N1, male, spent 2.5 months in the forest at the Latvia-Belarus border (10 August - late October 2021), returned to the country of his nationality in early November
'On 4 August 2021 my father, my mother, my then ten-year-old brother and I travelled by plane from Erbil via Istanbul to Belarus. We wanted to ask for asylum. We stayed in Minsk for several days and went to the Latvian border on 10 August by private cars. Altogether we were 26 people in our group and 11 of us were children. When we arrived at the border, we got off the cars and walked to the border. Belarusian border guards did not see us. We crossed the border into Latvia and were walking for about 30-60 minutes before the Latvian border guards caught us. It was already 11 August at 2 or 3 am in the morning. There were journalists with cameras there as well. The border guards took us into cars and drove us back to the Belarus border. We told them we did not want to go back but they said Latvia was closed for refugees and ordered us to go. They hit one of us by a stick and told their dogs to attack us, so we were forced to go back to Belarus.


Reuters article documenting the arrival of this group
In Belarus we were caught by the Belarusian border guards. We told them we wanted to go back to Minsk because the Latvians attacked us and prohibited us to come there. One of the officers took my passport and asked us to wait. When he returned he said that we could not go to Minsk and had to go back to Latvia. We refused to go but they took one child [from our group] and said that if we did not come they would send her to the border alone. We did not have any other choice, so they returned us to the Latvian border. The Belarus border guards told us that if we walked near towns or villages people would help us.
We crossed the border and were walking away from it. Near a Latvian village named
Robežnieki the police caught us at night. After that the border guards arrived. They were
followed by two black minibuses with men in dark blue uniforms. We understood they were
Latvian police SWAT. They ordered women and children to get into one of the cars and beat
the men up with hands and feet. Then they sent us to the car and hit the men with
electroshock sticks. At this time they only beat me up but did not use electroshock on me
because I could speak English and translated for them, but they did use electroshock on my
dad and other men. Following that, they took us back to the border. They told me to
translate that if we come back again we will die and they will kill us. I had to translate that
for women and children too. It is so hard when they say they will kill your family and you
have to translate for them.’
While we were pushed back and forth, sometimes they drove us to the border by car and sometimes forced us to cross it by foot. We were left in the forest with no food. Sometimes they separated families – men were taken to one border pillar and women and children to another pillar. My family was also separated, and we did not see each other for two days.’
Interviewee N3, male, spent 10 days in the forest at the Latvia-Belarus border (August 2021), returned to the country of his nationality in late November after having spent three months in the Daugavpils centreAfter that, my brother and I came back to Minsk. The smugglers who organised the trip told me I would be able to see my family if I went via Latvia – and that is why I went there on 11 August 2021. When we crossed the Latvian border we were caught by Latvian border guards who shouted at us ‘Go, go, go!’ and pushed us back into Belarus. The Belarusian border guards then took us back to the Latvian border. When the Latvians caught us for the first time they did not hit us but when they caught us again they beat us up. The Belarusians did not hit us but the Latvians hit us a lot.
The Latvians operated as follows: there were groups consisting of a few men in military uniforms who passed us on to masked men in black uniforms and gave them orders. The men in black uniforms then forced us into cars and beat us up severely. I thought they were going to kill us. They even hit me with electroshock in the head. I thought I was going crazy, I lost conscience. Once they wanted to hit me in the head with a stick but I covered it with hands and they hit my finger and broke it. My finger is now crooked.
It was impossible to talk or discuss anything with them, we could not do anything; we were all very scared. They demanded us not to look them in the eyes and hit us every time they saw us doing so. During the first few days they beat us constantly. Once after they returned us to the Belarus side me and three other persons found a ravine in the forest and hid there for three-four days. We were scared Belarusian border guards would find us and return us back to Latvia where we would be beaten again.’
Interviewee N6, male, spent over three months in the forest at the Latvia-Belarus border (11 August- mid-November 2021), returned to the country of his nationality in late November
On 7 August 2021, I, together with my husband and his cousin, took a plane to Belarus. We
spent three days in a hotel in Minsk before going by taxi to the Belarusian-Latvian border on
10 August 2021. The taxi driver spoke Russian. We went to the border in a group of five
people.
The driver took us close to the border and said we had to go on foot after that point. After
the taxi stopped, we walked for around seven hours first on the Belarusian and then on
Latvian territory. Then Latvian soldiers caught us and took us back to the Belarus border.
They hit the men with electroshock and told their dogs to attack us.
After that the Belarusian border guards caught us. We told them we wanted to go back to
Minsk but they did not let us do so, although we still had valid Belarus visas in our passports.
They took us back to the border and ordered us to return to Latvia. Over the subsequent
week we continued to be pushed back and forth. The men were beaten up by Latvian
commandos. The Belarusian border guards never hit us.’
II
‘They beat me up, hit me with electroshock over 20 times and dunked my head in dirty water’

A group of Iraqi nationals of Yazidi background stranded on the Latvia-Belarus border, August 2021
Over the subsequent days, the third-country nationals who had attempted to enter Latvia from Belarus since 10 August were gathered into larger groups who ended up stranded on the border line with Belarusian border guards on one side and Latvian border guards on another side. Both sides were not letting people to cross the border, forcing them to stay on the borderline under an open sky without any protection from cold or rain. Altogether there were four groups of people stranded at the Latvia-Belarus border at that time. The largest one involved 41 Kurdish-ethnic Iraqi nationals who subsequently became applicants in the case H.M.M. and Others v. Latvia (ECtHR group). Another group was composed of 18 Iraqi nationals of Yazidi background. The remaining two groups were smaller and equally included Iraqi nationals (although not exclusively).
‘When the Latvians took us back to the Belarus side, Belarusian border guards caught us and brought us to the border line. Other people, including [Interviewee N2], where already sitting there. The Belarusian border guards brought there more people from other places and made one group. On one side, there were Belarusian soldiers, and on the other – Latvian soldiers. We were trapped between them and could not move anywhere. It was only after several days that Latvian border guards brought us biscuits and water.’
Interviewee N7, male, spent ten days in the forest at the Latvia-Belarus border (August 2021), returned to the country of his nationality in mid-December after having spent four months at the Daugavpils centre
‘After we were pushed back to the Belarus side again and Belarusian border guards caught us, we told them that the Latvians beat us and told their dogs to attack us. The Belarusians put us in soldier cars and drove to a place where other refugees where sitting as well. They told us that if we sit there together the Latvians will not be able to beat us. Altogether we were 41 persons. At first we did not have any food but several days later Latvian border guards brought us some biscuits and water. While we were staying at this place, Latvian border guards suggested that we make videos and send them to journalists, maybe the European Union would so something for us and send some people to help us.’
Interviewee N1, male, spent 2.5 months in the forest at the Latvia-Belarus border (10 August- late October 2021), returned to the country of his nationality in early November
‘First we were sitting at the border pillar 235 for around two or three days and then at the border pillar 98 for around seven to nine days. While we were at the border 235 Latvian border guards deceived us. They asked us to go with them and told there was an ambulance or that they would take us to a refugee camp. But instead the commandos came, divided us into three groups and drove us to different border pillars. They sent me and my father to the border pillar 98 and sent women with children, including my mother and my brother, to the border pillar 70. They ordered me to cross the border into Belarus and told that my family was coming soon. I crossed the border and was waiting for my family but they did not come, so I went back to the border and asked about them. The Latvian officer who was staying there hit me and ordered me to go. One day later one of the Latvian officers promised me to bring back my family if I make a video and tell that Belarusian border guards were bad. I was ready to do everything and was crying a lot, so I and [Interviewee N1] filmed the video where I told bad things about the Belarusians – for example, that they did not let us go back to Minsk although we had a visa. After that I was reunited with my family.
While we were staying at the border pillar 98, a Latvian officer told me to make a video and send it to journalists. He told maybe this would help us. We were trapped between Latvian and Belarusian soldiers but still had our phones and internet connection. The Latvians also charged a power bank for us. So I began taking photos and shooting videos. I contacted a journalist of Kurdish origin living in Germany, and he put me in touch with a journalist from the Deutsche Welle. Some of these videos were published by the Deutsche Welle on 18 14 August 2021. Through my cousin I contacted Mr Edgars Oļševskis, a Latvian lawyer, whom we asked for help. I wrote an authorisation for him and collected signatures of all refugees who were with me at that time. I transferred the photo of the signed authorisation to Mr Oļševskis through my cousin. I also got in touch with ‘Gribu palīdzēt bēgļiem’, a Latvian NGO providing assistance to refugees, and sent them the videos I had shot.
Interviewee N2, male, spent nearly three months in the forest at the Latvia-Belarus border (11 August- early November 2021), returned to the country of his nationality in November
Stuck between Latvian guards on the one side and Belarusian guards on the other, these Kurdish families from Iraq have been stranded in no man's land for a week, without shelter or food.
— DW News (@dwnews) August 18, 2021
One of them, a young man named Rawa, sent us these images. pic.twitter.com/CAfEjjRHFI
The videos shot by Interviewee N2, published by the Deutsche Welle
The Rule 39 requests were received by the ECtHR on 20 August 2021. In the subsequent days, the NGO ‘Gribu palīdzēt bēgļiem’ started delivering hot meals to the persons stranded at the border. The NGO representatives were not allowed to approach the groups directly and gave the food to the border guards who, in turn, passed it to people. The NGO representatives also contacted the UNHCR's Representation for the Nordic and Baltic Countries who announced its intention to visit the stranded group on 24 August. The group was informed about their planned visit.
On 20 August, the Latvian border guards transferred three families with young children (11 persons
in total) to the Daugavpils camp. This has been documented on a video filmed by Interviewee N2.
The video features a representative of the Latvian border guard informing the families they would be
transferred to the camp ‘according to our law and international law’.17 Interviewees N3 and 7, who
represent two of the three families in question, accuse the Latvian authorities of attempting to
deceive them.
‘When they came on August 20 they said they were taking families with young children and that that we would be able to ask for protection. We knew they were lying but we were scared that they would beat us again. We were worried about our children and this is why we followed them.’
Interviewee N3, male, spent ten days in the forest at the Latvia-Belarus border (August 2021), returned to the country of his nationality in late November after having spent three months at the Daugavpils centre
‘When we were taken to Daugavpils, they simply deceived us. We understood that we would be able to claim asylum.’
Interviewee N7, male, spent ten days in the forest at the Latvia-Belarus border (August 2021), returned to the country of his nationality in mid-December after having spent four months at the Daugavpils centre
‘On August 11 me, my wife and our four children (aged 3, 8, 11 and 12) travelled to Minsk from Erbil via Turkey. We spent two days in a hotel in Minsk and then went to the Latvian border by taxi. Taxi drivers spoke Arabic. Altogether there were 11 persons in our group; the others were travelling alone without families. We arrived at the Latvian border on 14 August.
After we crossed the border Latvian border guards caught us and returned us to Belarus. Belarusian border guards brought us to a place where we found ourselves trapped between both sides. We remained there for nearly three days. We were located in the direct proximity of the [ECtHR] group and could see them. On one occasion the Latvians deceived us. They told they would take us to the camp but took us to the forest instead. We were walking long distances without food, got very tired and ultimately were returned to the same place again. Belarusian border guards never hit us but the Latvians treated us as if we were not human beings. The men from our group were beaten up and hit with electroshock in the forest on the Latvian territory. Latvian commandos threatened to kill us if we come back from Belarus again. On 17 August they transferred me and my family to the Daugavpils camp.’
Interviewee N9, male, spent three days in the forest at the Latvia-Belarus border (August 2021), returned to the country of his nationality in late September after having spent one month at the Daugavpils centre.
According to the interviewees, this was accompanied by brutal violence by
Latvian forces.
According to the interviewees from the ECtHR group, on 23 August they were approached by a
representative of the Latvian State Border Guard who asked them in the English language to follow
him.
‘One day a man from the Latvian border guard approached us. He talked a lot. He said they were going to bring us food, hot water, everything else. I called someone from the human rights organisation and he told me this man was telling lies and we should not follow him. But half of our group followed him because it was cold at the border and we did not have much food.’
Interviewee N1, male, spent 2.5 months in the forest at the Latvia-Belarus border (10 August -late October 2021), returned to the country of his nationality in early November
‘On 23 August a man in border guard uniform came to us. He had white hair and wore a mask. He said he worked at immigration. Some of our group followed him but others, including my family, stayed. I recorded his voice.’
Interviewee N2, male, spent nearly three months in the forest at the Latvia-Belarus border (11 August- early November 2021), returned to the country of his nationality in November
[..]
Voice N1: We will go to the road, it is a special road. It is a road where we can communicate with you, maybe I will try to identify you. Because some of you have documents. […] After that I have to communicate with you and to know your reasons, I have to know some details, but the main task to go from this [place] is a humanitarian aspect. [..] as quickly as possible to provide food, water, medical care if necessary. [..]
Voice N1: Ok, you are afraid of commandos, yes?
Voice N2: I don’t’ want to come…
Voice N1: But don’t forget. You are filming and taking photos, and don’t forget – we will say to international organisations that we provide you help and you don’t want to cooperate with us. With the state border guard. It is not so good for you, you know.
Voice N2: Sir…
Voice N3 [one of the persons from the group]: Before we came with the government, the police like you. [..] And they hit us. Commandos came…
Voice N1: As I understand, you don’t trust me. You don’t trust the immigration office.
Voice N1: Ok, stop. Ok, what do you want? I can’t understand.
Voice N2: We want to go to the camp. We don’t want to go to the road and interviews on the road.
Voice N1: How can we provide this moment if you don’t want to leave this border line? [shouting] How can I help you? Try to think! Switch on your brain! [..] You will sit a long time here because you don’t want to cooperate with us! And I don’t understand what I must do to help you.
Voice N2: We just want international humanity … to come here and after they come here…’
The group of 41 persons subsequently split into two parts, with some of the people following the man and some refusing to do so. Interviewees N1 and 2 were among those who decided to remain on the borderline waiting for the UNHCR to arrive. According to their testimonies, in the early morning of 24 August they were forcefully removed from that place by the Latvian authorities.
‘Early in the morning that man [mentioned above] came again. He said that if we did not follow him now they were going to take us away by force. After a couple of minutes 20-30 soldiers came and took us by force. They took us to a nearby road where we saw several cars with commandos. They forced us into their cars and ordered us to hold our heads down and not to look at them or anywhere else. They dropped us off at a place in the forest with two orange tents. There were around 100 people in the tents. There were many soldiers with guns around us. They started investigating us one by one. They asked where we came from and why we came here, and we had to answer all their questions. They checked all our clothes, pockets, bags, and shoes. They checked my phone by a computer programme and checked my contacts. We asked why they were doing all this but they told us not to speak. They removed my SIM card from the slot and put my phone into water before my eyes.
After that they put us again in the tent. The following day they started to take people to the border. But before that they brought me outside the tent and started to hit me with electroshock. I was yelling loudly. They used electroshock on my entire body, they hit me in my tongue and blood started to come out of my mouth. They also hit me in the back of my neck and my private parts. I lost conscience and fell on the ground. A few seconds later I regained conscience and three commandos started beating me. I was lying on the ground, one was sitting on me and the other ones were beating me with feet and hands. I was yelling, I did not know what to do, that was crazy. One of the soldiers came again, held me and dunked my head into a bucket of water three times. I thought he was going to kill me. They told me, ‘Don’t speak, don’t yell, and don’t say anything.’ They put me in the car and started to do the same to [Interviewee N2]. They were beating everyone who was with us.
After that they took us to the border. They split us into smaller groups and put into separate cars. Sometimes they separated families – for example, put mothers with children into one car and fathers into another car. We did not know where they were taking us. When we asked they told us we had no right to speak. They dropped me off and ordered to go to Belarus. They told me, ‘If I see you again, maybe I am going to kill you. I don’t want to see your face again.’
Interviewee N1, male, spent 2.5 months in the forest at the Latvia-Belarus border (10 Augustlate October 2021), returned to the country of his nationality in early November
They ordered us to come one by one from the tent and beat us very hard. I was beaten up by five or six men – one of them was a border guard and all the others police SWAT. Then one person hit me with electroshock 20-22 times. He hit me 16 times in the back, one time in the head and one more time in the back of my neck. He also tried to use electroshock on my private parts three times but he succeeded only once as I did not let him and he charged my hand twice instead. I was like dead and closed my eyes. Then they dunked my head into dirty water three times and I woke up. All my face was in blood, and all my body was in dirty water. They treated me as if were not a human being, as if I had killed someone or were a terrorist. My mum and my brother were crying, and they ordered me to tell my brother to stop crying or they would kill him. But he was only ten years old. After that they loaded us into cars, took us again to the border, split us into small groups and ordered to return to Belarus. At that time I was together with my family and Interviewees N4 and 5.
‘We wandered for two days in the forest before we saw a green fence. We walked along it for around half an hour before we reached a border crossing point. We suddenly found themselves in between Latvian and Belarusian soldiers who stood there with guns. We were standing in the centre of the border strip. My legs began shaking; I thought they would start shooting now. The gate in the fence was open and we carefully crossed into the Latvian side.
The Latvian border guards asked us to follow them inside the Latvian territory. We walked around two kilometres. My children could barely walk, everyone was very tired. Then they told us to sit and wait. First their boss arrived in a green jeep. He checked our papers. We told him many times we wanted to claim asylum. He asked where we wanted to go and if we wanted to go to Germany. I replied that it did not matter to me; I just wanted my children to be safe. Then he called someone, and men in black uniforms arrived. They checked our backpacks and threw all our belongings on the ground. They said they did not care why we came to Latvia and started swearing. All this happened before my children’s eyes.
They hit us very hard, they know where to hit to make it more painful but not to leave any permanent damage. They dragged me to the ground and hit me with feet. Then the men in black uniforms hit me with sticks and electroshock, including my private parts. They hit me for no reason – just asked why we crossed the border illegally, although we said that we wanted to ask for asylum. They did not care about that.
August 2021 – February 2022
III
‘I have never seen life like this. I will never forget that.’
Following the events described above, the third-country nationals who sought entry into Latvia from Belarus continued to experience daily pushbacks. According to the interviewees, from then on every night they used to be transported to a tent set up by the Latvian authorities in the Latvian territory and then pushed back into Belarus the following morning. During the day, they were transported back to Latvia by the Belarusian border guards.
Then the Latvian border guards saw us and told us to follow them. We walked around 50 meters inside the forest, so that no one could see what was going to happen. After 30-40 minutes commandos arrived in big vans. They yelled ‘Look down, look down!’, checked our clothes, ordered us to lie down with our faces on the ground and beat us with feet. From then on, this procedure repeated every day – they took us to the tent and back to the border (there was now one tent instead of the two).
During my first month in the forest the Latvians used to take us to the border and force to cross into Belarus two times a day. One or two times a week they ordered us to cross the border through a swamp. The water was so dirty and we could not move, because if you move you can get sucked in. They told us it was only one meter deep but sometimes it was deeper. And the water was black, so we could not see if there was something dangerous inside. One month later they ordered us to cross the border one time a day. Every day at 4am they woke us up, put us in cars and drove us to the border. Sometimes they put 20-25 people in one minibus. It was so hard for us – we had to sit on our knees with our heads down like the biggest terrorists in the world. Every day they took us to different border pillars. We knew all their numbers. When the Belarusians returned us back, the Latvians checked everything again and asked us to take off all our clothes. Every day was like that.’
Interviewee N1, male, spent 2.5 months in the forest at the Latvia-Belarus border (10 August - late October 2021), returned to the country of his nationality in early November
Every morning they took us from the tent by a minibus to the Belarus border. We stayed on the Belarus side for several hours and then had to return back. Sometimes in one day Latvians forced us to cross the border with Belarus two or three times. Some days they allowed my family to stay in the tent – because my father had broken his leg and my brother was small. All the time I said we were ready to pay money to go back. Once we offered Belarusian border guards 5,000 dollars just to let us go back to Minsk. They did not accept that. I offered the Latvians money as well but they did not accept it either. Latvian forces did not let us have phones. They broke all phones. We asked them, ‘Just give us a phone and we will go back to Minsk.’ They said they could not do so. We tried to go back to Minsk many times but we did not succeed because we did not have a phone.’
Interviewee N2, male, spent nearly three months in the forest at the Latvia-Belarus border (11 August- early November 2021), returned to the country of his nationality in NovemberInterviewee N10, male, spent nearly one month in the forest at the Latvia-Belarus border (August- September 2021)
Every day they took us to different border pillars – one day that could be the pillar N15 and the following day the pillar N37, 72 or 299. Border pillars like N15, 47, 50 , 55 or 72 were easy. We walked two to three kilometres inside the Belarusian territory; we knew there was a small village with some old empty houses. We entered these houses and knew Belarus soldiers had their cameras placed there. We stayed under the cameras and they arrived in half an hour. They brought everybody bread and water. Sometimes we paid them money and they bought us food from the shop, such as meat or cheese. We stayed there, eat the food and made fire. After one or two hours Belarus border guards brought us back by car to the Latvian border. Sometimes they brought us back in a group of around ten persons but we could also be 30-40 people. We arrived at the Latvian border at 12-1pm, it was good time. We searched for surveillance cameras and stood under them waiting for the Latvian border guards to come and call the commandos who would then take us to the tent. We would arrive at the tent at 2pm, and at around 4pm they would bring us biscuits and water. That was our dinner. And once in three days they gave us a little soup, nothing more.
But some border pillars were very difficult. Border pillars like N189, 200 or 259 are close to Lithuania and there are no villages or houses there, nothing. This is why the Belarusian soldiers told us not to go far from the border, just stay and wait for them to come. So when we crossed the border at this place we walked around 200 m into Belarus, collected firewood 25 and made fire so that we do not die from the cold while we were waiting for the Belarusian soldiers to come. We did not know how long we would need to wait – sometimes they arrived in one or two but sometimes only in five or six hours. It was very cold in the forest and I did not feel my fingers and toes anymore. And the Latvian tent was very far from these pillars, the way was very long. After the Belarusians took us back to the border we had to wait for Latvian commandos for one or two hours in the cold. After they arrived they ordered us to hold our heads down again and checked everybody’s clothes for some spying software. Then we taken into commandos’ minibuses and needed to hold our heads down again. We needed to drive for one or two hours to get to the tent, so we only arrived there at night. And in the morning everything repeated again.’
Interviewee N11, male, spent two months in the forest at the Latvia-Belarus border (October -December 2021), returned to the country of his nationality in mid-December
One night when they were taking us to the forest the commandos hit a woman. She was the mother of [Interviewee N2]. They hit her and she yelled. They told her, ‘Don’t scream, just shut up and don’t make any noise. Don’t cry or we are going to beat you more’.
Interviewee N1, male, spent 2.5 months in the forest at the Latvia-Belarus border (10 Augustlate October 2021), returned to the country of his nationality in early NovemberThey told me they did not care if we die or not as that was not important for their country. I was severely beaten up two or three times. At other times they did not hit me so hard – they said it is like a joke. My father broke his leg many years ago, and after I told Latvian soldiers his leg was getting worse, two of them wanted to hit me. One time they hit my mum with feet and I would have preferred to die rather than see that. I could not do anything. Her shoes were broken and they sent her to the forest without shoes. Later Belarus soldiers gave her shoes.’
Interviewee N2, male, spent nearly three months in the forest at the Latvia-Belarus border (11 August- early November 2021), returned to the country of his nationality in NovemberIn the morning people in black and military uniforms arrived. One of them started swearing at me and asked why I came to the Latvian side again. We replied we were only asking for asylum, nothing more. He started beating me – he dragged me to the ground and put his foot on my leg. He was dressed in military uniform. He took a gun and pointed at my head. After that they took my friend in the car and started beating him too.’
Interviewee N10, male, spent nearly one month in the forest at the Latvia-Belarus border (August- September 2021).One day they brought ten new people to the tent. We were now 45 persons in the tent and some of them did not have a place to sleep. I gave my place to a woman from Syria. One of the newcomers (also from Syria) was shouting. A soldier entered the tent and said he heard voices. I said we were just speaking about the place to sleep, because too many people came and maybe we needed two tents. He ordered me and the man who was shouting to come out of the tent, and three commandos beat me up. My nose was bleeding. They brought me back in the tent and the following morning ordered us to wake up and go to Belarus. I screamed, ‘Please, let me stay just for one day and have a rest because I do not feel my body’. They said, ‘F*** your body, go to Belarus’.
Hitting in the head was an ordinary thing for them. That happened every day. If you ask them for something, you will have a problem – maybe they will not give you water and biscuits for two days. I have never seen a country like Latvia.’
Interviewee N12, male, spent two months in the forest at the Latvia-Belarus border (October - December 2021), returned to the country of his nationality in mid-December


Interviewee N2, male, spent nearly three months in the forest at the Latvia-Belarus border (11 August- early November 2021), returned to the country of his nationality in November, on the ECtHR list
But on one occasion five persons [from our group] attempted to go back to Minsk. The Belarus border guards caught them on their way and did not give us any food for two days as a punishment. I saw people were dying and I told everyone, ‘Please don’t go to Minsk because otherwise they will not give us any bread’.
Interviewee N12, male, spent two months in the forest at the Latvia-Belarus border (October - December 2021), returned to the country of his nationality in mid-DecemberInterviewee N2, male, spent nearly three months in the forest at the Latvia-Belarus border (11 August- early November 2021), returned to the country of his nationality in November
Interviewee N1, male, spent 2.5 months in the forest at the Latvia-Belarus border (10 August - late October 2021), returned to the country of his nationality in early November
Interviewee N6, male, spent over three months in the forest at the Latvia-Belarus border (11 August- mid-November 2021), returned to the country of his nationality in late November
‘There was no water or soap, so we could not wash ourselves. One day one soldier brought
us near the river, made fire and told all people to wash themselves. But it was already -2C
and not everyone could do so.’
The interviewees testify that in mid-December the Latvian authorities stopped bringing people to
the tent, forcing them to live under an open sky despite the extremely low temperatures.
Interviewee N15, male, spent over two months in the forest at the Latvia-Belarus border (October 2021 -January 2022), returned to the country of his nationality in mid-January
Every morning at 4am they woke us up and drove us to the Belarus border. The Belarusians would then send us back. This was routine. In mid-December they stopped taking us back to the tent and we stayed outside. It was very cold, and we made fire during the night to survive. One or two people stayed awake and kept the fire burning. When the Latvian commandos arrived, they took us to the Belarus border by car – they didn’t take us to the tent but immediately returned us to Belarus. The Belarusians did the same. I have never seen life like this, I will never forget that. They are not human. I was in a group of eight people, we cried so much. We spent the New Year’s Eve in the forest under an open sky.’
Interviewee N16, male, spent 2.5 months in the forest at the Latvia-Belarus border (October 2021-January 2022), returned to the country of his nationality in January