FATMATA

"I am completely alone, you are the only ones I trust, please come"

Fatmata was shot and killed on the 19th of April by a North Macedonian border police officer. She was 23. We knew her and her husband, Abu Bakar, as they lived in one of the camps Second Tree works with. Abu Bakar was with Fatmata when she was shot. He asked to get in the ambulance with her and was told there was no room for him but that they would take him in the police car. Instead, when he got into the car, they drove him to a detention centre, and he couldn’t say goodbye to her. He then started taking pictures of Fatmata’s clothes as evidence, he was handcuffed, the clothes were taken away, and he was driven several hours away to another detention centre. After spending a day and a half in a cell, without anyone telling him any news of his wife, the police offered Abu to forget everything and be dropped at the border and “get to Europe”. Abu refused and decided to stay in the country to seek justice for Fatmata. It was at this moment that he got in touch with us: “I am completely alone, you are the only ones I trust, please come”.

April 19th, 2023 - Present

Second Tree’s staff, Fatmata’s family, advocates, lawyers, and those touched by Fatmata’s story unite in following the case, fighting for #JusticeForFatmata

Key media coverage refugee narratives

Three areas of work

Since Fatmata’s death, Second Tree has been tackling three key areas: 1) The Legal Case, 2) Body Repatriation, 3) Fatmata’s story