https://bloodyborders.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/NNK_Frozen-Lives_25...
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/jan/27/bulgaria-bord...
Imagine if one day your son went on a hike in the mountains and, caught off guard by a sudden snowstorm, called emergency services (112) with trembling, barely audible words to provide approximate coordinates of where he was trapped—would you expect a swift and effective rescue? Now, imagine if no one came. What if help was denied outright? What if his voice faded into silence as his body succumbed to the cold? Would you call it just negligence, or would you call it murder?
This report seeks to uncover the events that transpired between December 27 and 29, 2024, in southeastern Bulgaria, near the border with Türkiye, where three Egyptian boys—minors—lost their lives while attempting to reach a safe place to seek protection.
Death from hypothermia—induced by extreme cold—is determined by several factors: ambient temperature, humidity, wind, clothing, health condition, and, most crucially, the time of exposure. A swift intervention saves lives; a delayed or absent response kills. The investigation conducted by No Name Kitchen and Collettivo Rotte Balcaniche reveals how the lives of these three young individuals could have been saved—either by Bulgaria’s emergency services, had they acted promptly, or by the rescue teams from Collettivo Rotte Balcaniche and No Name Kitchen.
However, instead of offering assistance, there is evidence on how Bulgarian border police consciously and deliberately blocked the rescue teams' access, as evidenced by pictures, videos, audio recordings, geolocation data, etc. It was these rescue teams, later arrested without charges, who ultimately found the lifeless bodies of the three boys. Activists punished for doing what the Bulgarian authorities refused to do. Once again. This tragedy is but the tip of the iceberg of Bulgaria and the whole European Union's cruel, racist, and lethal border policies. Three lives lost. Three young souls, full of aspirations, denied their basic rights: the right to seek safety, the right to receive aid, and the right to live.
May this investigation preserve their memory with dignity. May it contribute to preventing further deaths, identifying those responsible, and demanding accountability and justice. Above all, may it provoke shame on institutions and policymakers, while inspiring the European civil society to reflect on the urgent need to react and demand action—acknowledging everyone’s responsibility and embracing our collective humanity to seek real solutions
