The respondent, a 17 year old guy from Somalia was traveling from Maydan, Serbia, and through Romania to Hungary in a group of 7 people, 5 from Somalia and 2 from Syria, on 14th July, 2021. All of them were male and from 17 to 30 years old. The respondent said that they started in Maydan at 8AM and arrived in Hungary at 2PM the same day. They waited in a forest area close to the border and, at 7:30PM, 2 police officers found them. The respondent recorded that they told them to sit and called for more police, who arrived shortly after in two cars -white and blue- and one dark green car -Landcruiser- that the respondent referred to as a “military” car. The respondent said that two of the officers were wearing “military” uniforms with camo pattern only in the sleeves and trousers and were carrying rifles.
One of the officers -known by the respondent from previous attempts- reportedly told the interviewee not to come back on the same day as he was on shift for the night:
“Everyone gets only one chance a day. If you go back 2 times a day, you will face problem, you get beaten up. I know one guy who went two times and they broke his leg.”
The respondent reported that the group had to sit there for 40 minutes, when they were checked and their bags inspected. The respondent asked for asylum during this time and was told there is no asylum in Hungary. They were also asked questions about who was guiding and who had the maps. After that time, the respondent said that a big white van with a blue line arrived and they were cuffed and made to sit on the floor in the caged back of the van for a 1h and 20 minutes drive.
They arrived at the official border crossing in Horgos, Serbia. The respondent reported that there, the officers took pictures of all of them holding numbers (front and side). They also gave one person in the group a text and recorded him reading it. The respondent did not remember what it said.
According to the respondent the Hungarian officers reportedly called the Serbian police. Then, he said that the group was made to cross the border at 11:45PM, 14th July, 2021 and got recorded while doing that. The respondent states that two Serbian police officers in dark blue uniforms were waiting on the other side of the border. They asked them for their camp IDs and told them “to go to camp” before letting them go.