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“If you come back, I will kill you!”
The respondent is a 20 years old person from Afghanistan. He travelled with a group of around 40 people, including minors, when they tried to get to Croatia. They started their journey in the night from the 17th to the 18th of April. They walked for two days until they crossed the Bosnian-Croatian border. After that they were expecting a taxi to pick them up but the taxi never showed up. They stayed in a forest on the Croatian side for two more days with almost no food and water.
On the fourth day of their journey the group was still in the forest, close to a road. They lost the orientation over the days and didn’t know where they were exactly. They saw a police-car with two police-officers. They tried to hide so that the police could not see them but there was a drone flying and stopping right above of them. The group didn’t know what to do or in which direction to go and shortly after that five police-vans appeared at the road.
Around 20 police officers got out of the cars and headed towards the group. They were all wearing dark blue or black uniforms, masks and helmets [this description could match the description of either the Croatian border police or the Croatian special intervention police] and pointing their guns at the group. Some of the police officers shouted at them “If you run away, I will kill you!”. Some of them put their guns directly at the head of some of the members of the group. After that the police officers began to beat the group with their hands and batons, they pushed them to the ground and kicked them with heavy boots. The police officers also brought five police dogs with them and led them so close to some of the members of the group that they were almost bitten by the dogs.
After beating and kicking the group the police forced them to undress themselves down to their underwear and give the clothes to the police. If the police found money in the clothes, the people got all of their clothes back but if they didn’t find money they only gave part of the clothes back. They also took all the phones and after a while only gave some of them back, others were kept. All shoes of the group were kept by the police so that the members of the group had to walk barefoot.
After that the police officers pointed at mountains in one direction and told the group to go back this way, cross the border through the mountains and not come back. One police officer said to the group “Go back. If you come back, I will kill you!” and pointed his gun at the group again.
Around 20 police officers got out of the cars and headed towards the group. They were all wearing dark blue or black uniforms, masks and helmets [this description could match the description of either the Croatian border police or the Croatian special intervention police] and pointing their guns at the group. Some of the police officers shouted at them “If you run away, I will kill you!”. Some of them put their guns directly at the head of some of the members of the group. After that the police officers began to beat the group with their hands and batons, they pushed them to the ground and kicked them with heavy boots. The police officers also brought five police dogs with them and led them so close to some of the members of the group that they were almost bitten by the dogs.
After beating and kicking the group the police forced them to undress themselves down to their underwear and give the clothes to the police. If the police found money in the clothes, the people got all of their clothes back but if they didn’t find money they only gave part of the clothes back. They also took all the phones and after a while only gave some of them back, others were kept. All shoes of the group were kept by the police so that the members of the group had to walk barefoot.
After that the police officers pointed at mountains in one direction and told the group to go back this way, cross the border through the mountains and not come back. One police officer said to the group “Go back. If you come back, I will kill you!” and pointed his gun at the group again.
After the incident the group walked back through the forest towards the mountains. The respondent found a pair of old and demolished shoes but still took them to not be barefoot. They walked towards Bosnia through the mountains where there was a lot snow at that time, reaching up to the knees of the respondent. They had to walk through the snow for a long time. even 5 days after the walk the respondent still couldn’t feel two toes and was afraid that he would lose them. It took the group two days without food or water, injured and in pain to get back to Bosnia.
After they crossed the border they heard the sound of a chainsaw and decided to go towards the sound. When they arrived there were Bosnian people working in a forest. Those people were very kind, gave them food and water and showed them the way to get to Bihać. The group saw that the Bosnian people had a car and asked them if they could drive them. They answered that they would like to but they couldn’t do it. They would get into trouble if the Bosnian police saw them transporting people. After that the group walked to Bihać, it took them around two hours. After arriving in Bihać a Taxi came towards them and asked where they wanted to go. They explained that they needed to go to the Lipa temporary reception center but only had ten euros left and that they have just experienced a pushback. The taxi driver was very kind, got them more food and drinks and brought them in smaller groups to the Lipa temporary reception center without charging them any money.
After they crossed the border they heard the sound of a chainsaw and decided to go towards the sound. When they arrived there were Bosnian people working in a forest. Those people were very kind, gave them food and water and showed them the way to get to Bihać. The group saw that the Bosnian people had a car and asked them if they could drive them. They answered that they would like to but they couldn’t do it. They would get into trouble if the Bosnian police saw them transporting people. After that the group walked to Bihać, it took them around two hours. After arriving in Bihać a Taxi came towards them and asked where they wanted to go. They explained that they needed to go to the Lipa temporary reception center but only had ten euros left and that they have just experienced a pushback. The taxi driver was very kind, got them more food and drinks and brought them in smaller groups to the Lipa temporary reception center without charging them any money.
overview
40 people ,
from Afghanistan, unknown,
aged 20, unknown.