Uploaded January 2024 | Updated September 2026, 51 minutes ago
"The things I saw at the border, I could never have imagined," Sami Barkal, a Syrian now living in Germany, tells the BBC's Julian Worricker. Barkal explains what compelled him to film and publish the first footage at the Croatian border. Now with a case in front of the European Court of Human Rights, he also shares his experiences of the time he was pushed back to Bosnia by Croatia border officers whilst he was still a minor and explains why the case is so important to him.
Hanaa Hakiki, senior legal advisor at ECCHR is one of the lawyers in the Border Justice team supporting Sami Barkal. She explains how common Barkal's experiences are, yet how exceptional his case and how the Court should handle his case. She also takes the opportunity to debunk some common myths about migration.
Read more about the case: https://www.ecchr.eu/en/case/croatia-to-answer-to-european-court-of-human-rights/
Read more about pushbacks and related cases: https://www.ecchr.eu/en/topic/push-backs/
This audio recording was part of the BBC World Service News programme from 31 December, 2023: bbc.co.uk/programmes/w172z37mvgm0hv1
"The things I saw at the border, I could never have imagined," Sami Barkal, a Syrian now living in Germany, tells the BBC's Julian Worricker. Barkal explains what compelled him to film and publish the first footage at the Croatian border. Now with a case in front of the European Court of Human Rights, he also shares his experiences of the time he was pushed back to Bosnia by Croatia border officers whilst he was still a minor and explains why the case is so important to him.
Hanaa Hakiki, senior legal advisor at ECCHR is one of the lawyers in the Border Justice team supporting Sami Barkal. She explains how common Barkal's experiences are, yet how exceptional his case and how the Court should handle his case. She also takes the opportunity to debunk some common myths about migration.
Read more about the case: https://www.ecchr.eu/en/case/croatia-to-answer-to-european-court-of-human-rights/
Read more about pushbacks and related cases: https://www.ecchr.eu/en/topic/push-backs/
This audio recording was part of the BBC World Service News programme from 31 December, 2023: bbc.co.uk/programmes/w172z37mvgm0hv1
