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Stop acting like that, we didn’t beat you this time

Date & Time 2020-10-26
Location Röszke, Hungary
Reported by Collective Aid
Coordinates 46.1765079, 19.9921745
Pushback from Hungary
Pushback to Serbia
Taken to a police station no
Minors involved yes
WLTI* involved no
Men involved yes
Age 13 - 28
Group size 13
Countries of origin Afghanistan
Treatment at police station or other place of detention
Overall number of policemen and policewomen involved 6
Violence used no violence used
Police involved 6 male Hungarian police officers, 3 police cars, 1 unmarked green van

At approximately 01:00 on the 26th October, a group of 13 people were apprehended by two male Hungarian police officers close to the Horgoš-Röszke border crossing, less than 1km into Hungary. Three members of the group including the youngest, aged 13, had sustained injuries while crossing the border, with the 13 year old severely struggling to walk due to a broken foot. 

When the police officers apprehended the group they instructed them to stop, and called for more officers. Two more police cars came to the scene, bringing the total to 6 officers, all men. The police officers made the concerned group sit in a line on the ground. The group was sat on the forest floor for approximately one hour, and did not interact or converse with the police officers. After this hour, the officers instructed the group to walk and they took them to a green, unmarked van. The interviewee reported that the police officers, upon noticing the injured group members limping, shouted (in English):

“stop acting like that! Why are you walking like that, we didn’t beat you this time.”

No medical attention was given to the injured members of the group, including the 13 year old minor. The concerned group then spent approximately 30 minutes inside the van as they were driven to the location where they were pushed back, close to the village of Röszke in Hungary (46.1765079, 19.9921745). The police officers unlocked a gate in the border fence and told the group to walk back into Serbia. The push-back occurred at 03:00 the same day, two hours after they had been caught.