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Group of 43 forced to cross the border at gunpoint, being threatened with life
On 10th of October 2025, our interlocutor, a 35-years-old man from Syria traveled from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) to Croatia in a group of 43 people, including three families with four children and a pregnant woman. Other people were from Syria, Turkey, Bangladesh, and Chechens from Russia. After driving for about 4-5 hours by car, the group crossed the Croatian border on foot. They continued walking for two days. They were in a forest near Zagreb when they were caught by the Croatian police in the night.
Lipa camp near Bihać, where the respondent and group returned to after the pushback.
They were stopped by four police officers, three men and one woman. The police called backup, and 5 more officers arrived. The officers were wearing standard blue uniforms. They were directing strong light into people’s eyes and forced the men to strip till their underwear but spared the women and children. They confiscated people’s belongings – bags, mobile phones, and money – and burned them. Then they beat the people with batons.
After that, the officers force people to board three police vans. Due to overcrowding, the conditions were suffocating, our interlocutor told us. At the police station, people were put in a cell. Water was thrown to them “like dogs” as our interviewee described it, but they did not get any food. There was a toilet, but it was in a very bad state, he told us.
In the morning, the group was brought outside. It was very cold and raining, and the people were still in their bare underwear and T-shirts. The Croatian officers made them get into the police vans, which were again overcrowded. The transportation lasted for about two hours, during which someone lost their consciousness due to the lack of oxygen in the overcrowded vehicles with no windows.
The group was brought to the forest near the border with BiH. About 9 police officers were with them. The people were brutally beaten with batons and verbally insulted. Our interviewee has sustained injuries on his clavicle and shoulder area and the stomach area (see photos). Then the people were forced to cross the border at gunpoint, being threatened with life.
After that, the officers force people to board three police vans. Due to overcrowding, the conditions were suffocating, our interlocutor told us. At the police station, people were put in a cell. Water was thrown to them “like dogs” as our interviewee described it, but they did not get any food. There was a toilet, but it was in a very bad state, he told us.
In the morning, the group was brought outside. It was very cold and raining, and the people were still in their bare underwear and T-shirts. The Croatian officers made them get into the police vans, which were again overcrowded. The transportation lasted for about two hours, during which someone lost their consciousness due to the lack of oxygen in the overcrowded vehicles with no windows.
The group was brought to the forest near the border with BiH. About 9 police officers were with them. The people were brutally beaten with batons and verbally insulted. Our interviewee has sustained injuries on his clavicle and shoulder area and the stomach area (see photos). Then the people were forced to cross the border at gunpoint, being threatened with life.
The interviewee’s sustained injuries on his clavicle and shoulder area.
After the pushback, the people walked for three and a half hours until they reached an inhabited area. When the local people saw them, they brought them food, water, and clothes, and they helped them by calling a taxi. It took them 2 hours’ drive to reach the Lipa camp near Bihać.
overview
43 people ,
from Syria, Turkey, Bangladesh, and Chechens from Russia,