Skip to content
Support our work

One of the men was sick (fever, nausea and vomiting) but the police didn’t care about him.

Date & Time 2017-12-27
Location close to Nagynyárád, Hungary
Reported by Rigardu
Coordinates 45.93433353, 18.58268738
Pushback from Hungary
Pushback to Serbia
Taken to a police station yes
Minors involved yes
WLTI* involved no
Men involved yes
Age 4 - 30
Group size 84
Countries of origin Pakistan
Treatment at police station or other place of detention detention, fingerprints taken, photos taken, personal information taken, papers signed, denial of food/water
Overall number of policemen and policewomen involved Unknown
Violence used beating (with batons/hands/other), kicking, pepper spray, destruction of personal belongings
Police involved 2 police officers described as Hungarian police (1 male and 1 female) with a small police car, 10 more officers with big police van, police station: several police officers (in separated room with interviewee 3 younger male, 1 older male and 2 female)

On the 26th of December 2017 84 men (from Pakistan, 4 minors about 15-17 years old, interviewee 16 years old, most of the others about 20-30 years old, some older) walked from Serbia across the Croatian territory for 4 days, then across the Hungarian border and stayed for 3 days at Hungarian territory. Then, on the 26th around 3 am they got stopped by what they described as 2 Hungarian police officers (1 male and 1 female) with a small police car in a “jungle”. The men tried to flee from the police and spread into smaller groups. The interviewed man managed to run away alone. When the police found him, they suspected him to be a smuggler for the others. The man denied, and tried to prove that he is a minor and only part of the group. The police called for 10 more police officers to come with a big police van. Some of the police officers committed some violence to all of the men: the police woman used pepper spray to the eyes of the men, so they couldn’t see for a while, and some of the male officers beat them with hands and sticks and kicked them for few punches. The men didn’t express an intention to seek for asylum. Then the police transported all of the men to some what they described as a Hungarian police station. It took around 2 hours to get there (the men didn’t see where they drove). There several police officers checked their bodies and belongings and asked for property. They checked their money and mobile phones and broke some of them. They interrogated the men, took pictures, wrote down their personal details and asked them to sign some papers. Only the fingerprints of the interviewed man were taken. No written documents were given to any of them. Some of the police officers (4 male and 2 female) took the interviewed man to a separate room, where the male police officers (3 younger and 1 older) treated him with violence. They accused him for being a smuggler and didn’t believe him when he again tried to proof his innocence. The police kicked his legs and beat him with sticks. His knee got so injured that he needed to consult a field doctor a few days later. The police officers put all the men inside one small cell, where they had to stay for 12 hours. They asked for water and food after their tough journey across the border, but they didn’t get any. One of the men was sick (fever, nausea and vomiting), but the police didn’t care about him. In the next morning about 4 pm the police officers declared that the men will be deported back to Serbia. The deportations were accomplished to smaller groups and to different places on the Serbian-Hungarian border. 20 of the men were transported to Sombor, and 10 to Horgos. 17 of the men, including the interviewed one, were transported by a police car about 2 hour drive away to the border close to Subotica. There the police ordered the men to go back to Serbia, so the men returned to the Serbian side. When the interviewed man managed to go back to Subotica he had so severe pain in his legs that he needed to consult a field doctor. The man with the illness was in so bad condition that he did the same.