NATIONAL REPORT 2016 Torture and ill-treatment in Germany In 2015, the number of persons seeking protection in Europe, and especially in Germany, increased to a historic peak of over a million people. The substantial majority fled the brutal civil war in Syria, experiencing torture, violent conflict and abhorrent cruelty committed by different combatant groups. The other highly represented nationalities are Afghanistan, Iraq and Eritrea fleeing from torture and ill-treatment, violent conflict and state brutality 2. Among the most common violations clients of bzfo list are arbitrary detentions, torture, rape, burning, and killings of relatives by combatant groups in civil war. Torture and ill-treatment is not isolated to the countries of origin. Many asylum seekers also report traumatising events during their flight to safety, including the death of family members in unseaworthy boats and ill-treatment at the hand of traffickers. Others report coercive and sometimes violent treatment by border officials across Europe and in Member States of the European Union. In 2015, bzfo published a report documenting allegations of violence and ill-treatment committed by EU border guards3. The report was based on several medico-legal reports (MLRs) and prevented clients, who had suffered at the hand of EU border guards, from being returned to Bulgaria, Hungary or Italy under the Dublin Regulation. Refugees on hunger strike at the Sendlinger Tor in Munich. | © FooTToo page 5