migrants sleeping outside, which led to cases of hypothermia. 62 September 2016, Amnesty International reported that five Syrian refugee children were allegedly ill-treated by Greek police for carrying plastic toy guns. 72 Meanwhile, serious incidents are reported more frequently along the external borders of the Schengen area. Allegations of illtreatment and excessive use of force have emerged, for example, from Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy and Spain. Although not covered by this data collection, recent reports also concern Croatia. 63 Excessive use of force and violence by the police and state security bodies has also been reported in Spain, particularly concerning people who climb the fences in Ceuta and Melilla. 73 On 21 October 2016, SOS Racismo together with the Coordinator for the Prevention of Torture (Coordinadora para la Prevención de la Tortura) asked for an investigation of various claims of maltreatment of immigrants by the police in the Aliens Detention centre (CIE) in Aluche. 74 Convivir Sin Racismo also denounced physical and verbal maltreatment in the Aliens Detention Centre in Sangonera, including frequent beatings in places not covered by security cameras. 75 Official complaints in these cases are few in number and have not been investigated sufficiently. 76 As highlighted by FRA in past months, in Hungary, reports of violence, excessive use of force and humiliating practices increased significantly after the adoption of a new law in July 2016. This law allows the police to transfer migrants who entered the country in an irregular manner to the outer side of the border fence with Serbia, if they were apprehended within 8 km from the border. 64 Reported practices include the use of unleashed dogs, the use of pepper spray, beatings, yelling at people, and, most recently, taking away warm clothing and making people kneel. 65 Civil society representatives noted that in most cases the authorities deny the occurrence of such incidents and are unwilling to investigate them. 66 Excessive use of force to take fingerprints was brought to FRA’s attention from hotspots in Italy in the course of 2015 and early 2016.77 More recently, Amnesty International reported similar concerns, mainly in locations outside the hotspots. 78 Several incidents are also reported from Bulgaria and Greece. In Bulgaria, in October 2015, an Afghan asylum seeker was shot dead by Bulgarian police after crossing the Bulgarian-Turkish border. 67 Last year, the media also reported on several vigilante groups detaining and abusing asylum seekers and migrants close to the Bulgarian-Turkish border. This includes the group ‘Vasil Levski’, a union of former police and military force trainees. 68 Some of the perpetrators are now under investigation. 69 Finally, the UN Committee against Torture made a number of critical observations at the time of the seventh periodic report on France, stating that it was “worried by the allegations of violence against applicants for asylum and migrants, as well as their situation in Calais and that region.” 79 A recently published report by the NGO ANAFÉ contains allegations of ill-treatment at airport holding centres. 80 In June 2016, 12 unaccompanied children of Pakistani nationality were reportedly abused by police officers in Lesvos. Some of them had nosebleeds, abrasions on the wrists due to handcuffing, and other wounds on various parts of their bodies.70 On 24 November 2016, the police station on the island of Samos was accused of holding a 25-year-old refugee from Iraq under inhumane conditions at the police station for nineteen days. 71 In Under Article 2 (1) of the UN Convention against Torture, which is binding for all EU Member States, each State Party must “take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction”. Similarly, Articles 1 and 3 of the ECHR place a number of positive obligations on European states, designed to prevent torture and other forms of ill-treatment. In cases involving degrading Preventive measures 8