On January 16th. 2017, 30-35 people on the move crossed the Hungarian border near Bački Breg, around midnight. The group of 30-35 people included 4-5 minors and 10-15 elderly people. They got through on their first try and kept on walking for about two hours. They were then spotted by a helicopter with flashing lights. About forty police officers arrived, the group of 30-35 people hid in an apple orchard between the trees, but the police found them.
“They caught us. They didn’t say anything, just started hitting us.”
The police did not ask any questions before they started beating them. They were beating the group of 30-35 people for about half an hour, both using batons and kicking them. The interviewee describes being kicked in the stomach. The police had three or four dogs that they were using to scare the group of 30-35 people, releasing the dogs on them and pulling them back. The police made them take off their clothes, and searched their pockets and their bags. The police threw out everything they found in the bags and kicked any person that tried to take their clothes back.
Then the police took them to the van and forced them in by kicking and hitting with batons on their shoulders and backs. They took them to the border and pulled them out of the van, while again hitting and slapping them. The police then ordered the 30-35 people to stand in a line at the border and took individual pictures of their faces. Four or five of them were ordered to read out a paper stating that they had entered the country illegally.
“From the moment they caught us to the moment they deported us they were continuously beating us. They beat the elderly. They beat the small children. They beat the children so bad they began crying.”
The police then opened the gate and forced them out by pushing and grabbing people by the head. A Serbian police car arrived on the other side. The group of 30-35 people then went to the Horgoš camp.
“Nobody asked us anything. Nobody asked if we were okay, if we were beaten. After this all our clothes were ripped and we slept outside. The next day we walked back to Subotica.”