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The dog was coming near to everyone's face, he had a muzzle but still he was barking and trying to bite us

Date & Time 2022-10-29
Location Horgos, Serbia
Reported by No Name Kitchen
Coordinates 46.17564051, 19.98432398
Pushback from Hungary
Pushback to Serbia
Taken to a police station no
Minors involved no
WLTI* involved no
Men involved yes
Age 48 - 48
Group size 30
Countries of origin Morocco
Treatment at police station or other place of detention photos taken, denial of food/water
Overall number of policemen and policewomen involved 20
Violence used beating (with batons/hands/other), kicking, pushing people to the ground, dog attacks
Police involved 20 police officers, some wearing navy blue uniforms and some described as "soldiers"; 1 police van

The respondent is a 48-year-old man from Morocco, who crossed the Serbian-Hungarian border at midnight on the 29th October 2022, with a group of 30 people. They were pushed back around six hours later.

The respondent reports that the group left an informal settlement near the city of Horgos, and after having walked for around 40 minutes, the group arrived at the border fences that separate Hungary from Serbia and they crossed them. Immediately after the last people of the group finished crossing the second fence, a group of 20 people, to whom the respondent refers to as “Hungarian army and police officers with different uniforms” apprehended them. They reportedly punched the respondent twice and then forced him to lay on the ground. They also reportedly kicked him in his stomach and the respondent recalls having had a lot of pain when he was breathing for three days after the incidents, because of the kicks he got. The officers also beat the other people in the group, using what the respondent referred to as ‘police batons’. The respondent recounts trying to cover his face with his hand to protect himself, but the officers had also a big dog, with a muzzle. The respondents reports as it follows:

“The dog was coming near everyone’s face, he had a muzzle but still he was barking and trying to bite us. He was pushing his head on our faces, hurting us and scaring us.”

The respondent said that the group was forced to lay on the ground for one entire hour, and after that a van arrived. The people were forced to get on it and after 30 minutes drive they arrived at the border, near the Horgos official border crossing point, driven by some of the officers. They had to stay there, guarded by the people the respondent refers to as ‘officers’ for half an hour. Pictures of them were taken and they were denied food and water. After the pushback, the respondent went back walking to the informal settlement where he is living in Serbia and from where he left some hours before. The respondent detailed that by the time he returned, it was still night.