The Killing of Muhammad al-Arab

Overview

Following the EU-Turkey agreement of March 2016, Turkey had contained inside its territory refugees and migrants trying to reach Greece and the EU. However, on 27 February 2020, the Turkish government encouraged and mobilized thousands of migrants and refugees to cross into Greece at the Evros/Meriç region in order to exert political pressure on the EU to comply with Turkish interest in Syria. On 2 March, after several days of tension, violence escalated at the border. Reports emerged of shootings, and a casualty near the river delta. The victim was identified as Muhammad al Arab, a young man from Aleppo, Syria. We established that rounds were fired along that stretch of the border on that day and Muhammad al-Arab was killed in Turkish soil within 15-135m from a group of armed Greek soldiers standing right on the border. Our analysis supports the testimony of several witnesses who claim that al-Arab was shot by this group of Greek soldiers. -FA