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Horgos Pushback involving Frontex

Date & Time 2022-09-30
Location Near Horgos, Serbia, not far from A1 highway.
Reported by Collective Aid
Coordinates 46.1589892, 19.89605807
Pushback from Serbia
Pushback to Serbia
Taken to a police station yes
Minors involved yes
WLTI* involved yes
Men involved yes
Age 17 - 50
Group size 35
Countries of origin Morocco, Tunisia
Treatment at police station or other place of detention photos taken
Overall number of policemen and policewomen involved 34
Violence used beating (with batons/hands/other), insulting, pepper spray, dog attacks, theft of personal belongings
Police involved The respondent Hungarian police and military as well as officers wearing Frontex emblems. He also identified "Nato" involvement.

In the early hours of September 30th, 2022, a group of thirty-five Moroccans and Tunisians, including minors and women, walked into Hungary, near Horgos, Serbia, off the A1 highway. They had walked about five kilometres into Hungary before four Hungarian border officials stopped them. The officers reportedly had a dog with them, which, according to the respondent, “was the biggest” he had ever seen.

Thirty minutes later, 30 more officers as well as military personnel reportedly arrived. The respondent also explained that there were Frontex and NATO officers among them. The officers reportedly proceeded to hit the group members, including the minors and women—they hit “everyone,” the respondent said—and also used pepper spray on them. The officers stole the respondent’s phone and money and reportedly called him “bad things.” According to the respondent, himself and fourteen other people were then forced to lie face down on the ground for two hours.

The officers then took reportedly the group to a nearby police station, where they had their photos taken. The respondent explained that they were then transported back to Serbia in a border patrol van.