Incident Date

“If we catch you three times in Hungary, we will beat you. Go!”

  • Date and time: December 31, 2018 04:00
  • Location: Kelebia, Hungary
  • Coordinates: 46.1958608, 19.606629099999964
  • Pushback from: Hungary
  • Pushback to: Serbia
  • Demographics: 12 person(s), age: 15-20 , from: Afghanistan
  • Minors involved? Yes
  • Violence used: no violence used
  • Police involved: 8 police officers in uniforms, one dog in the back of the car
  • Taken to a police station?: yes
  • Treatment at police station or other place of detention: detention, denial of access to toilets, denial of food/water
  • Was the intention to ask for asylum expressed?: Yes
  • Reported by: Escuela Con Alma

Original Report

The group of 12, some of them minors, was cought by Hungarian authorities near Kelebija. They expressed their wish to stay in the EU and requested asylum, but were told:

“No, we will send you back.”

They were then brought to a police station and locked in a car garage. It was very cold there and they didn’t have anything to drink or eat. When they asked for a toilet to wash themselves, they were not allowed to.

After five hours, the officers pushed the 12 of them back to Serbia, telling them:

“If we catch you three times in Hungary, we will beat you. Go!”