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A group of four young men from Afghanistan, including two minors, were near the locality of Horgoš, in the north of Serbia, a few kilometers from the Hungarian border. It was a rainy day and they were sitting in the jungle, waiting for it to get dark to go on game. Most of them had already tried to cross the border before, without success.
Where the group was apprehended and beaten in the forest
Around 5 p.m., a drone flew over their heads, probably one of the border police drones, according to the informant. After a short while, 15 serbian police officers appeared at the place where the young Afghans were located. They arrived with two Skoda cars and two vans. They were all men and were armed with guns and batons. The agents began to beat the guys, with batons and with the feet, with a lot of violence. Although the officers said a couple of things to them, they did not understand anything because they were speaking in Serbian. The informant claims that one of the youths had his arm broken or cracked due to the beating. They also checked their belongings and “they took away our good mobile phones”. After that, they were transported by van to a Detention Center near Horgos, the informant does not know the exact location of the building.
The violence did not end in the jungle, but during the van ride and at the Detention Center they were constantly beaten. After checking their cell phones again, they were locked up in two separate cells, the minors in one and the two adults in the other. The informant affirms that they were never informed of their situation or what would happen to them. No one informed them of anything, nor were they provided with any translator. They were also not provided with any medical examination after the violence suffered, only the boy with the broken arm was visited by a doctor, who did nothing to heal the break. The interviewee also states that they spent 48 hours without food, and that throughout their stay – which lasted a week – they were not allowed to leave the cell. After this week, the four Afghans were transferred to Preševo, where they were made an ID, and where they spent only one night, before heading back to the north to try the risky game again.
overview
4 people ,
from Afghanistan,
aged between 17-23.