BIRN: Serbian police used sonic weapons on migrants near Sombor in 2023

The investigative portal BIRN reported today, citing claims by an organization dealing with refugee rights, that in November 2023, Serbian police used a "weapon-like device to produce sound" during the forcible eviction of refugees from an abandoned facility where they were staying in the suburbs of Sombor.

The organization's note, as cited by BIRN, states that on November 7, 2023, around 35 refugees attempted to escape from the police through the fields near the abandoned house, but it appeared as if the police were also stationed in the field to intercept them.

"During the commotion, a loud piercing sound - higher in pitch than a gunshot - was emitted from a device resembling a weapon, which was being used by one of the police officers in a field behind the (refugees') residence. It is assumed that this was used to speed up the process of capturing the people who had fled," the note said.

BIRN writes that this finding coincides with what was briefly stated in a report by the "Border Violence Monitoring Group", a group of organizations working on the rights of refugees and migrants, published in November 2024, which states that Serbian police used "a weapon-like device to produce sound" during the forcible eviction of refugees from the facility where they were staying.

"Last but not least, Collective Aid staff reported seeing the use of a 'weapon-like device that uses sound waves' to 'produce noise and scare people during the eviction,'" the report said, adding that it was an LRAD device.

In November 2023, Serbian police conducted the most extensive operation in some time against armed smuggling gangs originating from Afghanistan, Morocco and Syria, BIRN reports, and during these operations, human rights experts on the move also pointed to violations of the rights of ordinary refugees, who have nothing to do with criminal activities.

The extensive police operation, which lasted several months, involved members of the regular police, police intervention forces, gendarmerie, and the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit (SAJ).