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"If you come back, we will break you."

Date & Time 2022-09-10
Location Near Horgos, Serbia, not far from A1 highway.
Reported by Collective Aid
Coordinates 46.1622162, 19.90845055
Pushback from Hungary
Pushback to Serbia
Taken to a police station yes
Minors involved no
WLTI* involved no
Men involved yes
Age 19 - 45
Group size 20
Countries of origin Morocco
Treatment at police station or other place of detention photos taken, Video taken
Overall number of policemen and policewomen involved Unknown
Violence used beating (with batons/hands/other), pepper spray, electric shock, destruction of personal belongings, theft of personal belongings
Police involved The respondent identified Hungarian border police as well as the involvement of German, Austiran, and Czceh officers based on the country flag sewn to their uniform.

In the early hours of October 9th, a group of twenty Moroccans walked from Vitaminka into Hungary, near Horgoš, Serbia, off the A1 highway. They had walked about three kilometres into Hungary when an unknown number of police officers stopped then. Among the officers, the respondent identified Hungarian, German, Czech, as well as Austrian officers based on the country flags sewn onto their uniforms. The respondent emphasized that it was not just Hungarian border patrol officers who had apprehended them; the officers comprised a mix of nationalities. Some of the officers wore balaclavas.

The officers reportedly beat the group with their flashlights and also used pepper spray and tasers on them. They destroyed the respondent’s cellphone and stole his power bank as well as his money. During the interview, the respondent wore a cast on his hand, resulting from the beating he suffered. He described these officers as “dangerous.”

After some time, the officers took the group to a nearby police station, where they took photos and video of them. One officer told the respondent the following: “If you come back, we will break you.” The respondent spoke in detail about how the area between the Hungarian border and Highway 55 is an incredibly dangerous space in Hungary for people-on-the-move, in which border police can act violently towards them with impunity.

The officers then returned the group to Serbia in a border patrol van, in the early afternoon. The pushback took place close to Horgoš border crossing, Serbia.