Stranded in Serbia, migrants endure an odyssey of violence

BELGRADE: Driven back by police batons and snarling dogs, or beaten and robbed by the smugglers they relied on, migrants caught in Serbia have regularly been victims of violence as they struggle to reach Europe.

About 8,000 migrants have been trapped in the country since the European Union closed its borders, hoping to block the so-called Balkans route taken by hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

But migrants continue to cross the region in smaller numbers -- a few hundred a day -- often with the help of traffickers.

"I could not imagine that European police could be so violent," Najim Khan, a 21-year-old mason from Pakistan, said in a Belgrade park.

The claims from migrants as well as aid groups are dismissed by the authorities: Croatia says there is "no proof" of abuses, Hungary says it acts "with respect to human dignity", and Bulgaria says it has looked into every claim "but they were never confirmed".

Kkan, who arrived from Bulgaria a few weeks ago, says that one evening, the police burst into the squat where he was staying in Sofia.

"They beat us, took us to a police station and then to a closed centre. They beat us again during transfers," he told AFP.

Once in Serbia, he tried to reach the European Union despite the increased patrols at Hungary’s border, but his group was quickly spotted by the Hungarian police.

"They made us lie on our stomachs, in a line. They ran on our backs, laughing. They were throwing beers in our faces," Khan said.

"They took our cellphones and broke them. They did not take our money."

In early March, medical aid group Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) denounced the violence against migrants, calling it a "ritual of brutality... designed to stop people from trying to cross again".

"The militarisation of the EU borders has led to a staggering increase in violence, especially along the Balkans," said Andrea Contenta of MSF, which has set up a clinic in Belgrade.

"More than half of our patients have experienced violent events during their journey."

Rados Djurovic, of the Asylum Protection Centre in Serbia, said migrants "complain mostly about violence suffered in Hungary, where they were bitten by dogs, hit brutally, causing broken bones."

Many also complained about abuse in Croatia, but the situation was better in Serbia, where the police have been given clear instructions, according to an aid worker who declined to be named.

Contenta added that although smugglers were responsible for some of the assaults, "the vast majority of our patients reported alleged violence perpetrated by state authorities, mainly by EU member states such as Hungary, Bulgaria and Croatia." Attal Shafihullah, a 16-year-old Afghan, said he had experienced both.

One night Shafihullah and three comrades were intercepted by the Bulgarian police as they tried to leave Serbia.

"Sometimes they let you go," he said. "Other times not."  This time, the officers beat them, he said.