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Made to take off shoes and run for 30 minutes

Date & Time 2022-01-10
Location Horgos, Serbia
Reported by Collective Aid
Coordinates 46.175984, 19.98438891
Pushback from Hungary
Pushback to Serbia
Taken to a police station no
Minors involved no
WLTI* involved no
Men involved yes
Age 26 - 40
Group size 14
Countries of origin Afghanistan, India
Treatment at police station or other place of detention
Overall number of policemen and policewomen involved 6
Violence used forced exercise
Police involved 2 Hungarian officers in military uniform with Hungarian flag on the arm arrived in 1 black 4x4. Four officers were waiting at the border crossing, dressed in blue Hungarian police uniform.

On 1st October a group of 14 men crossed the first fence of the Serbian-Hungarian border. The men made it over the first fence but could not get over the second fence. When they touched the second fence it gave them an electric shock. Because of this they were stuck in the middle of the two fences so they ran for 25 minutes to try and find another place to cross the second fence.

The men presume that when they touched the electric fence it alerted the police. After 25 minutes of running in-between the fences, a black 4×4 with two officers arrived and the men immediately sat down. The officers dressed in military camouflage asked everyone where they were from, and asked if anyone spoke English. Despite speaking fluent English the respondent did not speak up because he was so scared.

The officers searched all of the men’s bags and bodies for any weapons. After they were searched the group were told to put their backpacks on, but to take off their shoes and hold them in their hands.

Once everyone had their shoes off the men were told to start running. The officers sat back and watch them all run along the road in between the fences. The officers then told them to stop and they drove the car up behind them. This stop-start running continued for 30 minutes.

When the group were told to stop, there was a big transit navy van waiting for them. The van already had people in. The group got onto the bus and were driven 20 minutes to the Horgos border crossing. When they were made to get out of the van, there were 4 police officers waiting for them. The group were made to line up outside and all had their pictures taken by the officers. The group were then made to cross back over into Serbia at the Horgos border crossing.