The video showing a Syrian boy killed on the Turkish-Greek border is authentic

On Monday 2 March several journalists who are following the story of the thousands of migrants blocked between Turkey and Greece, which started about a week ago, had reported that a young Syrian applicant had died in clashes with Greek police, killed by a gunshot wound . The news had been picked up by several newspapers around the world, including the Posts.

Within a few hours, the Greek government spokesman Stellos Petsas he had defined the video is a “fake news” and an example of “Turkish propaganda”, the aim of which would be to put the Greek government and the management of migrants on the border in a bad light. The video, however, is authentic: a respected London-based group of researchers and journalists called it Forensic Architecture, who for years has been dealing with images and videos that come from war contexts or that show blatant human rights violations by trying to use information that can be found online, such as Google’s satellite maps (a job similar to that of Bellingcat, with whom they have collaborated in the past).

First of all, Forensic Architecture he tried to understand if the video – which shows the minutes following the Syrian boy’s injury – had really been shot on March 2. Sometimes it happens that during mass demonstrations or similar events someone circulates old videos showing violence and brutality, passing them off as recent. It doesn’t seem to have happened in this case.

Forensic Architecture he obtained the video from the person who shot it, whose name is Ali Idris, and he analyzed its metadata, that is, some information on the video itself, very difficult to edit unless you have a good computer skills. The metadata shows that the video was actually shot on March 2 at 8.35 local time.

The researchers of Forensic Architecture – among whom there are also journalists, experts in design and digital animation, archivists and other figures – they then concentrated on the place where it was shot. The goal was to verify that it corresponded to the area where the clashes between migrants and the Greek police took place. “Many people on the spot shared the location where the accident occurred. We verified this information, contacted eyewitnesses and family members of the killed boy, collected testimonials and videos of the moments before and after the accident, “he explained Forensic Architecture in the video.

The researchers managed to reconstruct that the video was shot in a bend in the Evros River between the Turkish city of Edirne and the Greek city of Kastanies, in Turkish territory. The border with Greece was located on the loop a few tens of meters away. The group of migrants to which the Syrian boy belonged tried to overcome him on Monday morning: at some point, it is not clear exactly in what circumstances, several witnesses said that the boy received a shotgun shot of the face, apparently a rubber bullet. Soon after, Ali Idris started filming what was going on.

After a few minutes of excitement, in which the boy was seen on the ground and bleeding, a group of migrants put him on a wooden boat that transported him to the other side and then to the hospital. The video continues for several minutes – a very cut version has been shot on social networks – and also shows the boy on board an ambulance.

Rejecting asylum seekers with violence is prohibited by various rules of international and European law. In recent days, however, the European Union has praised the way Greece has handled migrants on the border with Turkey and promised new reinforcements from the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (formerly known as Frontex).

The most relevant images for Forensic Architecture they are those that show some details of the landscape on the river bank near the city of Edirne. The video recognizes some elements that can be traced back to that loop of the Evros river, of which various satellite images can be found: some isolated trees (element A of the video), a telephone antenna (element B) and above all one body of water that can be seen behind the rescuers. There is no doubt, in short, that the video was shot right there.

Even on the identity of the boy there seems to be no doubt. His name was Mohammad Arab and according to information collected by the journalist Jenan Moussa, who works for a UAE TV, was 22 years old and had fled five years ago from Aleppo, Syria. Forensic Architecture he discovered that the day before he died he posted on WhatsApp a photo taken in a place that is very reminiscent of the bend in the river (and in which he wears the same clothes as the video of the following day).

For days Moussa has been in contact with the family of Mohammad Arab, who sent her photos of the coffin and provided details on the funeral. Moussa sent the information publicly on Twitter to the Greek government spokesman, who did not respond and on another occasion It reaffirmed that the videos showing migrants killed by the Greek authorities are fake.

2 / According to the family, it is still not decided where Mohammad Arab will be buried.

His parents are now in Idlib. Family tells me, burial either in Ad Dana, Azaz or Afrin. @akhbar pic.twitter.com/13VOFcatOk

– Jenan Moussa (@jenanmoussa) March 4, 2020

In the days following the killing of Mohammad Arab, several international journalists wrote that Greece is continuing to use brutal measures to contain migrants, such as gunshots, batons and tear gas.

🎥🇹🇷🇬🇷 Video emerges of migrants being shot, injured & in one case killed on Turkish / Greek border.
The video is graphic.
The Turkish governor says the shots were fired by Greek border guards. 6 injured – 3 in legs / feet, 1 in groin, 1 in leg, 1 in chest – he later died. pic.twitter.com/GN2OP5OPoI

– Mark Stone (@Stone_SkyNews) March 4, 2020