LIVE Bloody borders testimonies (8)

from Croatia to Bosnia,

The main respondent is a 30-year-old man from Morocco. According to the respondent, together with other 5 people, he left on Thursday October 26th from the Bosnia border to cross over into Croatia. This group consisted of people from Western Sahara, Algeria, and Morocco. The respondent states that as they crossed through Croatia, they reached the border of Slovenia on October 28th 2023 at around 11 am.
He reports that they had not crossed into Slovenia, when a group of people wearing uniforms saw them and they crossed into the Croatian territory to take pictures of their faces. The Slovenian police then came in contact with the Croatian border police and they were talking with each other, the respondent reports that they were speaking in a “friendly” way. The Croatian police then told them to leave. Both Slovenian and Croatian police faces were visible and they were wearing official uniforms with the flag emblem showing. According to the respondent, as the 6 members of the transit groups started walking in a different direction an unidentifiable white van with no windows pulled up to them where 6 men wearing uniforms, who the respondent identified as Croatian Intervention Police wearing complete black uniforms, unidentifiable and with a black balaclava forced the 6 members of the transit group inside the van. According to the respondent, at this point the van was empty. But as they started driving, the van would stop periodically where more groups of people on the move were being picked up and forced to enter the van. As the respondent states, it has happened approximately 3-4 times. The number of people in the van reached 20 people. The respondent recalls that there were people from Afghanistan, Syria, Morocco, Western Sahara, and Algeria. He also reports that the van would not only stop periodically to pick up people, but it would stop for hours at a time, when the police officers would leave the van, leaving people in the van waiting and unknowing if the officers would return. The respondent recalls asking the officers at the time of entering the van where they were going to take them, and the officers replied saying they were going to take them to a camp in Zagreb. According to the respondent, no water, food, or bathrooms services were provided for these people in the entire 12 hours that they were with these 6 officers. As the respondent reports, one man in the van asked for water, one officer was walking to go get some water for them, then another officer stopped him and said to not provide any to them. As the day went on, the van eventually reached its final destination at around 11 pm the same day to a location on the border of Croatia and Bosnia where the 6 unidentifiable officers unloaded the 20 people to a location that was off the side of a main road and inside a small forested area. The respondent states that the officers lined the 20 individuals in two separate lines of 10 and made people kneel on their legs with their heads facing down. According to him, some of these people had their coats, clothing and shoes taken from them while others did not. Phones were also collected, as well as a holy Quran, and a prayer rug. The respondent reports that all these items were placed in a pile which the officers subsequently burned and made the individuals watch. The respondent recalls that anyone who did not obey the officers orders would be hit or slapped. According to him, 2 afghani men who were in this group got badly beaten up with police batons. The respondent also reports that there was an individual who was picked up on the way with the van who was incredibly ill from his journey. This man was so ill that he had to walk on all four, using his hands and legs to move around. As the respondent states, while they were in the forest area, this man was also kicked in the side by the officers. After they were done burning the items, which the respondent recalls lasted 30-40 minutes, the officers pointed their guns at the group and forced them into the river. The man that was ill was also physically pushed into the river.
The respondent and his friend carried the man that was ill across the river and then carried him 5 – 10 km to a gas station, before they were able to find a way back to Bihac to take the man to the Lipa Temporary Reception Centre, who subsequently took the man to a hospital.