"After he found out we are from Syria, he started shouting and hitting us."
| 09.09.2022 | Röszke, Hungary | No Name Kitchen | 46.175938, 19.9760426 | Hungary | Serbia | no | no | yes | yes | yes | no | 1 - 40 | 30 | Syria | detention, photos taken, no translator present, denial of access to toilets, denial of food/water | 16 | beating (with batons/hands/other), kicking, pushing people to the ground, pepper spray | 16 police Hungarian police officers dressed in dark blue uniforms (3 women, 13 men), 2 white vans, 2 black Jeeps |
On the afternoon of 9 September, a group of 17 Syrian men set off from Sombor. After crossing the Hungarian border, they were spotted by a police officer 2 hours later. A short time later, 2 black jeeps and 2 white police vans showed up and surrounded them. One of the policemen asked where they were from. After the respondent told the policeman that they were all from Syria, he started shouting at them and hitting the respondent with a police baton. Some of the group tried to run away and were stopped by the 13 policemen and 3 policewomen. A short time later they were all forced to kneel on the ground. "Two police hit us, the others just watched". The respondent was kicked in the hip and his back while he was on the ground. "Now I can't breathe , I am in lot of pain," the respondent said while pointing to his injuries. The police also used pepper spray against them. His friend, who can be seen in the second and third pictures, was brutally beaten on the back with a baton. The respondent also reported a person whose hand was broken by the police. After that they were divided between the two vans, each of which already had people in it.