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“I wasn’t able to sleep because of the pain”
The respondent is a 27 year old man from Morocco, who was part of a group of 3 men. The respondent had tried to cross the border already the day before in a group of 6 men but got pushbacked right behind the border while the other 5 continued. The new group started walking again from Velika Kladusha, the northern border crossing.
Location where the pushback took place
After 2 days of walking day and night, they were stopped by two individuals whom the respondent described as wearing black clothing and masks. The group started running into the forest, but were soon caught by the masked men. They forced them to the ground, making them lie face down. The respondent describes being brutally kicked in the ribs and hit on his back with batons. He describes how all his ribs were blue and how he wasn’t able to sleep for two nights due to the pain. After the beating, the masked men took their phones and powerbanks and used the batons to destroy them.
According to the respondent, they then called two officers, whose description fits to the croatian police. The group was forced into a white van and brought to the Border. The respondent can not recall the exact location but he remembers walking on a street that leads towards Velika Kladusha. After a few kilometers, a car with someone that works in Lipa Camp stopped and called the Internatinal Organisation for Migration (IOM). The group was brought back to the camp by IOM.
overview
3 people ,
from Morocco,
aged 21, 27, 31.