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The two young men also state that the children were beaten by the officers

Date & Time 2023-03-12
Location Horgoš border crossing
Reported by No Name Kitchen
Coordinates 46.1755625, 19.9550625
Pushback from Hungary
Pushback to Serbia
Taken to a police station no
Minors involved yes
WLTI* involved yes
Men involved yes
Age 1 - 33
Group size 23
Countries of origin Afghanistan, Palestine, Syria, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia
Treatment at police station or other place of detention
Overall number of policemen and policewomen involved
Violence used beating (with batons/hands/other), kicking, insulting, pepper spray, destruction of personal belongings
Police involved The respondents were not able to say how many officers were involved. They described the uniforms as blue navy with a Hungarian patch on the arm. 1 black Audi police car, 1 Mercedes police white van with blue stripes.

The respondents are two brothers from Morocco, 25 and 20 years old. They had been pushed back from Hungary to Serbia on the 12th of March.

The respondents report that they left the informal settlement where they were temporary living to walk to the Serbian-Hungarian border around 10 pm, with a group of 20 people from Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Palestine, Syria and Afghanistan.

According to the respondents, the group was apprehended around 6 am. Reportedly, they were reached  by some men and one woman wearing uniforms, identified by the respondents  as Hungarian police officers. The two young men were not able to understand how many people in uniforms were present because when they were apprehended they were forced to face the ground, while the officers were smashing their phones saying “Go back to Serbia, don’t come here.”

One of the two respondents recalls that a man in uniform used pepper spray against him and he could not see anything anymore. He also states that he was beaten with batons on his hand and on his back: he was beaten to the point of breaking his right hand.

The respondent’s broken hand. The fracture was caused by being beaten with batons by the officers during the pushback.

After being forced to kneel for many hours, always facing the ground, the group was loaded into what the respondents identified as a Mercedes white van with blue stripes where. According to them, it was not possible to sit down because they were tightly packed, as there were already other people inside.

The respondents further recall that in the vehicle there was also a Syrian family consisting of father, mother, one 6 years old daughter and one 6 months old baby. The respondents recount staying in the car for six to seven hours, without food and water and, according to them, the officers would answer to their request:

We don’t give you water, we beat you, fuck you, and shut up and look down.

Eventually, they recall being left on the Serbian side of the border. They state that as they were getting them out of the car, the officers took videos of them. Reportedly, in that moment they were still kicking, punching, and beating them with the batons, “treating them like dogs” while saying “If you come back we beat you up”. The two young men also state that the children were beaten as well by the same officers.

The group was released at 12 pm at the Horgoš border crossing point.