The respondent reported that he was bleeding a lot from the head. After 10 minutes, the security guards drove off and left him in the forest.
| 23.10.2020 | Sombor Transit Reception Centre, Serbia, and undisclosed location in the forest | Collective Aid | (45.7737851, 19.07183) | Incidents | Violence within camps | Serbia | no | yes | no | no | no | no | 19 - 30 | 1 | Morocco | beating (with batons/hands/other), property destruction/theft |
The respondent is a man from Morocco aged 19-30. He reported arriving at the Sombor Transit Reception Centre after being pushed back from Hungary around 7 PM on October 23rd, 2020.
He described that he had put his belongings down and gone to the main part of the centre to sit when a security guard came and asked for his camp ID card. He replied that it was taken away by Hungarian officers during the pushback. The respondent described that the security guard didn't believe him and told him he had to go to another centre.
He then grabbed the respondent and told him to leave, and reportedly proceeded to hit him with his fists on the chest and legs. According to the respondent, he made the perpetrator aware of a former injury on his left leg, but it was ignored.
He described that, shortly after, 2 more security guards arrived and held his arms behind his back while telling him to leave the facilities. He then left but came back around 10-15 minutes later. The respondent reported that 2 security guards approached him - one of them being the first one who had hit him before -, apprehended him, forced him into a white unmarked vehicle and drove him what felt like 20 kilometres away, to a forest location.
They then reportedly hit him at this location for around 10 minutes. According to the respondent, the beating involved 2 strikes on the head with a baton and additional strikes on the legs, including the site of his previous injury. The interviewee reported that he was bleeding a lot from the head. He described that, after 10 minutes, the security guards drove off and left him in the forest.
From there, he walked back to the Reception Centre, which took him approximately 3 hours. Once back in the camp, the respondent spoke with a friend who is also a person on the move but who reportedly works in the camp kitchen, who then went with him to speak to the camp administration. They told the respondent that the camp was full and he needed to leave.
The respondent left the office and returned to his previous place in the camp. He described that, following this, two members of camp security arrived and checked the ID cards of residents there. They then searched the respondent's bag, where he had pain medication for his leg injury and reportedly accused him of drug possession. The respondent described that the guards then took his medication along with the doctor's prescription for it. He asked for it back, but the guards refused to return it. The interviewee reported that he was unable to sleep at night due to the pain.
Afterwards, he asked the camp administration for a copy of the prescription so he could buy more medication, but was told they wouldn't give it because he didn't have a camp ID.
