On 20th September 2022, the respondent and a group of 20 men from India, Pakistan, Syria and Afghanistan crossed the two fences at the Serbian-Hungarian border. After crossing the second fence 5 black land rover 4×4 arrived at speed and the whole group was apprehended by 25 Hungarian officers in military uniform with the Hungarian flag on their arms. The officers were wearing black ski masks to cover their faces.

Immediately the officers began beating the respondent and the group with batons. One man was hit with a gun which caused a large gash across the back of his right hand, which required medical attention. Another man in the group was tasered by the Hungarian officers. The beating lasted 1 hour.

After this the group were made to lie down on their fronts with their arms out in front of them. The Hungarian officers stood the respondent and other’s chests so that they struggled to breathe. While having to lie down the group was kicked by the officers. They were told to keep their eyes down otherwise they would be beaten more. They were made to lie face-down on the ground for approximately 1 hour.

The respondent had €470 taken from him. Two other men had €150 and €500 also taken from them. One of the men was threatened with a knife and had the back of his jacket slashed and forced to give his money (the jacket in the picture).

Another man had his phone taken, and everyone had any jewellery taken from them. The officers slashed the hats of anyone that had one, as well as people’s bags. Anyone who had a phone either had it taken or hit with a baton so it was smashed and unusable. The officers spent 1 hour destroying and stealing the group’s belongings.

After the whole group was put into navy transit vans and transported to the border crossing at Horgos. The officers opened the gates and forced them back across into Serbia.

The respondent reported that these are not police they are ‘Ali Baba’.