The attempts of thousands of refugees and migrants to cross the Turkish-Greek border to reach the countries of Europe have not ended; Hundreds of refugees have flocked across the Turkish border state of Edirne with Greece since Ankara announced at the end of February that it would not hinder the movement of irregular migrants towards Europe, but that wave was temporarily stopped due to the outbreak of the Corona pandemic.

Greece, in turn, did not open its doors to the refugees and prevented their passage through its lands. A Syrian asylum seeker was killed after being shot by the Greek forces near the Collet Bazaar crossing, and others were injured. The Greek government denied using live bullets against the refugees, but fired heavily tear gas canisters, some of which were seriously injured, among asylum seekers in March; The suffering of the world with the Corona pandemic came to turn painful pages on the difficult journey of asylum to Europe.

In a months-long investigative investigation, British journalist Nick Waters spoke to many refugees and their families, and tracked photos and videos on social media, to confirm that the Greek security services used a dangerous type of tear gas that had led to the injury and death of dozens of demonstrators in Iraq, in the demonstrations. That broke out in different Iraqi cities last year.

With a lot of help from @Omega_RF we identified that strange projectiles found on the Turkish-Greek border were CS 560 extended-range tear-gas rounds, manufactured by Defense Technologies - Federal Laboratories. pic.twitter.com/4PWo2fBHPU

- Nick Waters (@ N_Waters89) March 4, 2020

The killing of Muhammad Gulzar

In a separate report recently published on the Blingkat open source investigation platform, Waters documented the use of live fire by Greek security forces for 40 minutes last March 4 against refugees, killing the Syrian refugee Muhammad Gulzar, 42, and wounding seven others. As a result of the incident, the Turkish authorities accused the Greek soldiers of using live bullets, and the Greek authorities condemned these "allegations" as propaganda and fake news.

Waters examined hundreds of videos and photos across multiple platforms, obtained special videos, and documented the scene of Gulzar's bullet wound through a video sent by the refugee widow, and confirmed that the victim had been at the border since that morning and was hit shortly before 10:30 by a deadly bullet from 5.5 mm caliber.

By using geolocation techniques, and despite the difficulty of defining the region's features as the Greek-Turkish border is mostly flat agricultural land, the British journalist was able to define a few reference points across the color of the fields and the soil inclination, to determine the coordinates of the killing of Muhammad and the injury of 6 others with great accuracy.

Yunan mezalimi sürüyor. Yunanistan güvenlik güçlerinin açtığı ateş sonucu göçmenlerden 3'ü ayağından, 1'i kasık bölgesi, 1'i kafasından ve 1'i de göğüs bölgesine isabet eden gerçek mermi sonucali toam Yaralılardan biri hayatını kaybetti. #Greece_under_attack pic.twitter.com/2zutAYYXqM

- Özlem Doğan (@ozlemdogan_) March 4, 2020

With a technical analysis of the sound of bullets, the British journalist determined the place of its release, to confirm that it was fired from about 40-60 meters from the party where the Greek border forces were present, and at the same time stressed that the scope of the Turkish forces' presence on that day confirms that it is not possible to fire bullets within The coordinates of the incident.

Waters revealed to Al Jazeera Net that there is an open letter signed by more than 100 members of the European Parliament, and questions were raised in the Dutch and Danish Parliament regarding the incident in which the Syrian refugee was killed, and added, "As far as I know, an official investigation has not been done yet, but it is possible that One of them starts soon. "

Lethal gas

Waters - who previously worked as a British army officer - said he followed the photos and videos of the tear gas canisters fired from the Greek side on the refugees, and noted that they were of the broad type designed for long distances, and not the normal type that does not cause major casualties, according to For an analysis by experts from the Omega Research Foundation looking into weapons and equipment used in torture and human rights violations.

The range of this type of tear gas is usually 150 meters, which usually requires much more kinetic energy than regular tear gas, and its edges are pointed, and the combination of a large kinetic energy (the force of the projectile) and the tapered head cause this type of projectile to cause death Possible victims, according to the British journalist's investigation of the "Blingkat" platform.

The munitions that @Omega_RF and @bellingcat identified are extended range tear gas grenades manufactured by Defense Technology - Federal Laboratories

These are designed to have a range of 150 meters or so and weigh approximately 280 grams. pic.twitter.com/g6bCKES01K

- Bellingcat (@bellingcat) March 4, 2020

Waters said to Al-Jazeera Net that he did not monitor the reactions of human rights organizations and civil society to his report, which confirmed confirmed injuries with this type of projectile.

The data printed on these projectiles indicates that they are of the long-range quality CS560 (CS 560), and of the US Defense Technology - Federal Laboratory industry, which describes its products as "less lethal as a law enforcement option," but a version of the "Police Fact Sheet" Returning to 1969, it states that it weighs 284 grams, with a speed of 225 feet (about 68 meters) per second and a range of 150 yards (about 137 meters), which makes it very dangerous.

It is not yet known whether recent versions of this ammunition have different characteristics. Amnesty International monitored the use of this type of tear gas and wide-range munitions during the recent Iraq protests, killing dozens of people, and ridiculed the manufacturer's description of its products as "the least lethal" to protect the law, according to Waters, a British journalist and security analyst.

The photos taken last March 1 clearly show that a Greek security personnel has loaded a "CS560" projectile into its launcher, which confirms that this type of ammunition is being actively used on the Greek-Turkish border, and the British journalist believes that this The type of ammunition is the cause of videos and photos showing seriously injured refugees at the border.

#Edirne #Pazarkule deyiz. Haberlerimizi # soL'dan takip edebilirsiniz… pic.twitter.com/KN9ZPF6oTH

- Y. Karamahmutoğlu (@yavuzkmo) March 4, 2020

In an extensive study conducted on more than 5 thousand people infected with similar types of tear gas during various protests in 11 countries, it was revealed that two of them died and nearly sixty were permanently disabled, and that the proportion of severe gas injuries reached nearly 9%, while due to direct hit by projectile 27% , Including head injuries and vision loss, according to the study published in the British science journal Biomed in 2007.

Inflamed borders

Al-Jazeera Net had gone to the Turkish-Greek border near the border gate of Bazarkouli between the two countries, and there met some Syrian and Iraqi refugees who said that the tear gas had caused suffocation cases between those trying to cross, including children and the elderly.

The Iraqi youth, Suhaib Al-Aqeedi, said that masked Greek special forces fired gas bombs, which caused suffocation and fainting conditions, and the wind caused the gas to spread to the place of the refugee families on the Turkish side, and caused suffocation cases of dozens of children, some of whom were transported to Turkish hospitals in the border city of Edirne.

The Iraqi youth noticed the presence of masked European Union forces on the Greek side, who wore riot gear, beat the refugees, while the Greek forces wore their usual uniforms and were shooting bullets at the heads of refugees, in addition to the deadly gas.

As Aqeedi and many refugees returned and were unable to cross the border into Europe, Gulzar’s widow and his family continued to suffer from the lack of justice in the case of the death of the forty-year-old refugee with deadly bullets that penetrated the border fence that he himself had not succeeded in crossing.