Since 2015, Luke Ćelovića Park, known colloquially as ‘Afghan park’, has been a significant hotspot for people on the move in the centre of Belgrade. With asylum centres around the area either closed or refusing to host displaced people that have not registered an asylum claim in Serbia, Afghan park has provided a meagre but crucial space for people to get some respite and wait until they continue on their journeys towards the EU.

Our team in Subotica have been making weekly visits to InfoPark, a community centre nearby, where we regularly meet with people on the move to distribute clothes, share some tea, and hear directly about what they’ve been experiencing along their journeys. Occasionally, people invite our team members to join them in the park. Escaping the noise of the community centre, it feels like a safe and quiet space to chat more privately. Yet, the stories they tell us are far from peaceful. Over the last few weeks, our team members have heard and witnessed first-hand the increase of police violence, harassment and intimidation against people on the move in this area.

One man we spoke to explained how three male police officers rummaged through his belongings looking for money, throwing all of his clothes across the floor. They went through his phone, scrolled through his whatsapp, and every bag belonging to his group that contained money was stolen. All he was left with was his phone, water, and clothes. Unfortunately, we have heard multiple accounts of strikingly similar events from numerous sources.

Violence has become almost commonplace during these searches. One man who had been sleeping in Afghan park in mid-August told us he was kicked awake by two police officers who asked him to move along and then stole his last €50. The same morning, a seventeen year-old Afghan boy and 4 others were approached by police, who, after being asked what was wrong, said there was ‘no problem’. Nonetheless, he and his group were taken to a small room in Belgrade’s central bus station and locked inside, one by one. Each of them were stripped of their clothing, and despite being a minor, the boy explained:

‘There was not an inch they did not search’.

They stole his cash and took his phone, only to hit him on the head with it three times before giving it back. He still had a bump when we met him that same afternoon. In the weeks since, people have reported being kicked, punched, and sprayed in the face with pepper spray.

After hearing about these police practices, we began asking around to understand how often they were happening. Within the space of two weeks, we had spoken to 8 people who were directly impacted by these searches and heard of at least 20 more victims based on second-hand witness statements. It is clear they are happening arbitrarily, and with consistency. One man mentioned being searched: ‘four times per day’.

On the 21st of August, as we sat in Afghan park listening to these stories, we witnessed it for ourselves. A lone policeman arrived to the park and began to pat people down and search through their bags. One of the men we had spoken to minutes earlier came over to report they had taken his money. After 30-40 minutes, two other officers arrived. They did not approach the men we were sitting with, but instead approached another group of men and escorted them away from the park.

‘If you weren’t here, they would’ve searched us one by one,’ one of the men we were with told us.

Horrified by the reports from earlier that morning, our team followed. They were taken to the room in the bus station we had been hearing about all morning. We could not access the room, but three young Moroccan men who had just been released told us they were searched inside.

The following images are screenshots from the videos our team took:

People on the move being escorted from Afghan Park to a room in Belgrade’s bus station after being searched [people on the move encircled in black, and the police officers in red].

For the police to so brazenly and consistently undertake these practices in full public view demonstrates how much impunity they have in targeting displaced people. One man told us he had taken a video of the searches, but when he realised the police were searching people’s phones, he deleted it out of fear they would find it. Of course, who can they report the police to, if the police themselves are at fault? In circumstances where people have tried to intervene, nothing has changed. Earlier this year, a volunteer from another NGO who witnessed these searches decided to film and intervene in what was going on. He was arrested as a result.

With nowhere to turn, many people have started developing tactics to hide their money such as rolling it up and hiding it in their mouths. Yet these measures are to no avail. One person believed that due to the frequency of the searches, the police know exactly where to look: they are now checking the insides of shoes, and one man who had hidden his money underneath a bandage on his leg was asked to remove it. The police took all they found.

Once, it might have been considered lucky to be searched when people didn’t have any money with them. However, one of our partner organisations has since informed us that the police have started to check people’s documents during these searches as well. Those found without documents are now reportedly being threatened with imprisonment if they do not pay. This is a particularly insidious tactic for police to take at the moment; with many camps around Serbia being closed, put on standby, or refusing to house people not seeking asylum in the country (which the majority of people are not), people have no choice but to pass through Serbia without proper documentation - and the police must know that. Actively targeting and threatening them if they do not pay is a clear abuse of power and a direct exploitation of their vulnerable and precarious living situations.

As it stands, some people are able to stay in informal camps in Belgrade’s outskirts where they can escape the suffocating presence of police in the city centre. ‘The jungle’ outside of Obrenovac Asylum Centre, for example, houses many people for days or weeks at a time. But when we mentioned Obrenovac to people, many explained how this area is becoming equally as inhospitable as the park. Some groups reportedly control the area, charging people €100 Euros to enter. One man told us people were also being charged to leave; ‘whatever you have on you, they take’. With exploitation and worsening conditions in both the city centre and the jungle, people have nowhere safe to turn. Life is becoming unbearable for people merely in need of shelter and support.

Community centres such as InfoPark provide safe spaces for displaced people to spend the day, but as long as camps across Serbia refuse to put a roof over people’s heads, they have no choice but to sleep in public places. And no matter how hard people try to force them out, they will not go away. Consistent harassment, theft, and violence from members of the police might push people underground for a while, but it will not change the political landscape that forces them out of their countries and on these journeys towards Europe. It is essential that people are treated with dignity and respect at all stages of their migration journey. The police must be held accountable for the violence they inflict.

Words by Genevieve Skudder. Photos by Giulia Cristaldi and Nehir Guvenc.

‘If you weren’t here, they would’ve searched us one by one’: Police Violence in Belgrade