This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
“They beat us without pity or mercy”
The main respondent is a 24-year-old man from Syria. The respondent reports that on the 25th of November, he was with a group of 9 persons, including two minors who were 16 years old. He reports that he walked from the Bulgarian border near Sofia for 15 hours to Serbia and stayed for 3 days at the location indicated. The respondent indicates that there was a lot of snow, about half a meter high and that they were afraid of dying from cold.
According to the respondent, on the third day, at 1am, 25 men in black uniforms arrived and took the phones of the men in the group. The respondent reports that one of the group members managed to hide his phone from them. The respondent states that the men in uniforms broke all the phones they got, and they also took the money of the group members. According to the description provided by the respondent, the men were wearing black uniforms and masks and it is likely that they were part of the Serbian border police. The respondent reports that after taking the personal effects mentioned above the police officers started to beat the group members with electric sticks. He claims that the officers hit him on the head and the arm more than 10 times. The respondent states that the police officers beat the minors even harder than the adults. He states « They beat us without pity or mercy ». The respondent recalls trying to speak with the police officers in presence. They were talking Turkish and English. The respondent recalls asking them to not beat him up, that he was sick. He recalls the officers answering « we are doctors, and we will treat you » before beating him up with the electric sticks. According to the respondent, they also claimed « Fuck you, don’t come to Serbia, go to Romania and travel from there ». After what the respondent thinks to be 30 minutes, the 25 police officers left without giving back phones and money, leaving the group members in the snow.
The respondent states the he was very afraid to die from the cold, but that walking was their only way to survive. He reports that they walked back to Bulgaria. The respondent got a bruise on all his upper arm. The respondent claims that one of the group members could not walk for a week because of the injuries after they made it back to a safe place. The respondent reports that they managed to call for help with the hidden phone, otherwise the respondent states they would have died in Serbia.
overview
9 people ,
from Syria,
aged 16-unknown.