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They burnt his medication
The respondent reported multiple pushbacks: whilst recording one testimony from a group (available here: https://bloodyborders.org/testimonials/pushed-back-seven-times/) the respondent provided this testimony aswell.
The main respondent is a 37-year old man from Egypt. The second time he tried to cross the border between Croatia and Bosnia, he says was the worst. The incident happened 18 days prior to our interview, somewhere between the 15th and 20th of November 2024. This second respondent was crossing with a group of other people from Morocco. After crossing and walking in the forest in Croatia, the police found them, but he and two other people managed to run away and escape. After they escaped, they hid in the forest for the rest of the day, but the police surrounded them and caught them.
The main respondent is a 37-year old man from Egypt. The second time he tried to cross the border between Croatia and Bosnia, he says was the worst. The incident happened 18 days prior to our interview, somewhere between the 15th and 20th of November 2024. This second respondent was crossing with a group of other people from Morocco. After crossing and walking in the forest in Croatia, the police found them, but he and two other people managed to run away and escape. After they escaped, they hid in the forest for the rest of the day, but the police surrounded them and caught them.
The police then put them in their car and drove for three or four hours. The second respondent describes how all the other times they were caught, it was the normal police. But this time, the police were all masked and dressed in dark blue. From his description, we think it was the Croatian Intervention Police (Interventa Jednica Policija).
Once they arrived, the police took them out of the cars and removed all the people’s clothes – even their shoes. They just left them in their underwear. The police then started a fire, and threw everything the people owned into the fire: all their documents, their phones, bags, ID cards, and his driver’s license. This second respondent also has a heart problem and takes some medication for it. He has some documents to prove this so he can go to the hospital for his medicine. He told this to the police, but they just laughed at him and threw everything into the fire in front of him.
Once they arrived, the police took them out of the cars and removed all the people’s clothes – even their shoes. They just left them in their underwear. The police then started a fire, and threw everything the people owned into the fire: all their documents, their phones, bags, ID cards, and his driver’s license. This second respondent also has a heart problem and takes some medication for it. He has some documents to prove this so he can go to the hospital for his medicine. He told this to the police, but they just laughed at him and threw everything into the fire in front of him.
They were then forced to cross a river back into Bosnia in their underwear in the cold. They were beaten with the police batons and also kicked them.
overview
1 people ,
from Egypt,
aged 37.