103 members of a persecuted religious minority have been detained at the Turkish-Bulgarian border and may face imprisonment or death if they fail to gain asylum to the EU.
According to Metro, followers of The Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light, an offshoot of Islam which has been condemned as ‘heretical’ throughout parts of the Arab world, presented themselves at the Turkish border this week in an attempt to gain safe passage to Europe.
But upon arrival, the group were met with extreme violence by Turkish border guards, who fired gunshots over their heads and viciously beat the Ahmadis before dragging them away to a police station over 20km from the borders.
Harrowing footage of the event shows gunshots being fired while the group are brutalised by border guards.
Two UK citizens were among those detained, both of whom claim to be journalists.
The group, which includes women, children and the elderly, are currently facing deportation within the next 7-10 days.
If refused asylum, they will likely be sentenced to death in their countries of origin.
The 103 individuals have been subjected to extreme and systematic forms of religious persecution all across Muslim-majority countries because of their faith.
They had been beaten, imprisoned, kidnapped, humiliated and terrorised throughout countries such as Iran, Iraq, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Azerbaijan and Thailand.
A spokesperson for the group said ‘It is vital for us not to be sent back to our country because we would risk being executed. Getting asylum in the EU will be our passport to life.’
An open letter from the European Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN), which has been co-signed by 28 human rights organisations, said: ‘For Turkey to respond to this humanitarian refugee crisis in this manner is a breaking of internationally agreed upon human rights laws.
‘This breaking of human rights laws by the Turkish Government is an outrage and an absolute travesty of justice.
‘We demand that our innocent members of this registered religion be granted their human right to asylum and sanctuary, that they be treated as lawful citizens who have committed no crime, and that they be released immediately from their detainment.’
