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Imprisoned for three days, with nothing but bread and water
The respondent is a 34 years old woman from Cuba. She travelled in a group of 10 people, also including her husband, her child, a child with epilepsy and elderly people. On the 12th of March the group arrived in the Lipa temporary reception center for the first time. One week later, on the 19th of March, they tried to cross the border to Croatia for the first time.
The group tried to get to Croatia by walking. After hours of walking the group arrived in a small village in Croatia. The residents of that village stopped the group and told them that they can’t pass here and that they called the police. The group tried to reach out to IOM and the Red Cross, explaining that they had elderly people and children with special needs in their group and that they needed access to a family camp to get the help and support that they need. They were told to explain their situation to the border police and that they will be brought to a special camp afterwards. When police arrived, they tried to explain to the officers that they were in contact with IOM and the Red Cross, that they had vulnerable people with them and that they needed to be brought to this ‚special‘ camp.
The police officers ignored this, took away their phones, searched them, gave them back their phones and didn’t communicate with the group what was happening after that.
A big van arrived and the group was pushed into it, without telling them where they were driving to. They drove for a while before the police officers told them to get out of the van. A police officer pointed in one direction and just said, that Bosnia is about one to two kilometers away and that they should walk from there. The respondent explained her feelings in this situation and said that it felt like „they left us like dogs.“ Even though there was an elderly man with crutches in the group who had difficulties walking the police still told them to just go back and didn’t offer any transportation or help.
After that the police officers threatened the group and said, that there will be way worse consequences if they try to cross the border again. One person of the group tried to hide a phone during the whole encounter. When a police officer noticed it, he took out the magazine out of his gun and hit the person on the head with his handle. Then he put the magazine back in and pointed at the group with the gun.
It took them a few hours to get back to Bosnia and back to the Lipa temporary reception center. Around one week later, on the 26th of March, they tried again to cross the border with the same group.
They arrived at the same village as in their first try. When the residents of the village started stopping and telling them again, that they can’t pass here and that they will call the police, the group tried to run away. They left the village and walked towards the mountains. They tried to hide in caves, avoided walking close to roads and in the evening they heard and saw drones flying above them and scanning the area.
At noon on the 27th of March four border police officers encountered them in a small white van. They were dressed in plainclothes but showed their guns at arrival and identified themselves as border police. They checked their phones and passports and searched them but then gave them back their phones and documents and waited for reinforcement until a big van arrived with police officers in dark blue uniforms.
The group was pushed into the van and driven to a police station. They were detained there for three days in which they only received bread and water two times per day. The whole group stayed in one container with a little bathroom for basic needs but not a proper hygienic equipment. They had to sleep in bunk beds on pieces of cardboard.
On the third day they were forced to sign some papers, even without knowing what those papers said. They were told they had to sign them blindly, otherwise they were not allowed to go. They even saw that there were papers and documents in Spanish, but the police denied them access to those papers and just commanded them to sign the papers that they could not read. The group didn’t want to, but was afraid that they were not able to leave the police station else way. They had heard stories of people who got beaten up because of not signing papers so they were in fear that the same could happen to them.
In the end every person was charged with 30€ for the ‚transportation-costs‘ back to the border, even a 5 year old girl was charged. Before driving the police officers searched the group again, collected the 30€ per person for the ‚transportation-costs‘ and also kept all the money that was left.
The police officers ignored this, took away their phones, searched them, gave them back their phones and didn’t communicate with the group what was happening after that.
A big van arrived and the group was pushed into it, without telling them where they were driving to. They drove for a while before the police officers told them to get out of the van. A police officer pointed in one direction and just said, that Bosnia is about one to two kilometers away and that they should walk from there. The respondent explained her feelings in this situation and said that it felt like „they left us like dogs.“ Even though there was an elderly man with crutches in the group who had difficulties walking the police still told them to just go back and didn’t offer any transportation or help.
After that the police officers threatened the group and said, that there will be way worse consequences if they try to cross the border again. One person of the group tried to hide a phone during the whole encounter. When a police officer noticed it, he took out the magazine out of his gun and hit the person on the head with his handle. Then he put the magazine back in and pointed at the group with the gun.
It took them a few hours to get back to Bosnia and back to the Lipa temporary reception center. Around one week later, on the 26th of March, they tried again to cross the border with the same group.
They arrived at the same village as in their first try. When the residents of the village started stopping and telling them again, that they can’t pass here and that they will call the police, the group tried to run away. They left the village and walked towards the mountains. They tried to hide in caves, avoided walking close to roads and in the evening they heard and saw drones flying above them and scanning the area.
At noon on the 27th of March four border police officers encountered them in a small white van. They were dressed in plainclothes but showed their guns at arrival and identified themselves as border police. They checked their phones and passports and searched them but then gave them back their phones and documents and waited for reinforcement until a big van arrived with police officers in dark blue uniforms.
The group was pushed into the van and driven to a police station. They were detained there for three days in which they only received bread and water two times per day. The whole group stayed in one container with a little bathroom for basic needs but not a proper hygienic equipment. They had to sleep in bunk beds on pieces of cardboard.
On the third day they were forced to sign some papers, even without knowing what those papers said. They were told they had to sign them blindly, otherwise they were not allowed to go. They even saw that there were papers and documents in Spanish, but the police denied them access to those papers and just commanded them to sign the papers that they could not read. The group didn’t want to, but was afraid that they were not able to leave the police station else way. They had heard stories of people who got beaten up because of not signing papers so they were in fear that the same could happen to them.
In the end every person was charged with 30€ for the ‚transportation-costs‘ back to the border, even a 5 year old girl was charged. Before driving the police officers searched the group again, collected the 30€ per person for the ‚transportation-costs‘ and also kept all the money that was left.
The group was told to get into the van and not ask any questions. If they asked something, they got mistreated and beaten up by the police officers. If people started to ask where they were going, the police officers started touching their guns and batons and told them once to not ask any questions. If someone still asked a second time, they would beat this person with their hands and batons.
Then they arrived at a certain place and the police officers told the group to get out of the van. A police officer pointed in one direction and said that the Lipa temporary reception center is about 12 kilometers in this direction and that they should stark walking now, so they can still arrive in daylight. The group tried again to talk about their permission by the Red Cross to be brought to another camp but when the police began threatening them again, the group just turned around and began walking towards the Lipa temporary reception center. It took them three to four hours of walking without water and food until they arrived again at the camp.
Then they arrived at a certain place and the police officers told the group to get out of the van. A police officer pointed in one direction and said that the Lipa temporary reception center is about 12 kilometers in this direction and that they should stark walking now, so they can still arrive in daylight. The group tried again to talk about their permission by the Red Cross to be brought to another camp but when the police began threatening them again, the group just turned around and began walking towards the Lipa temporary reception center. It took them three to four hours of walking without water and food until they arrived again at the camp.
overview
10 people ,
from Cuba,
aged 5-70.