LIVE Bloody borders testimonies (3)

from Croatia to Bosnia,

The main respondent is a 28-year-old man from Morocco. According to the respondent, on November 8th 2023 he was travelling with 4 other individuals, all of whom are from Morocco. According to him, he had already arrived at the Croatian-Slovenian Border which he states was “only 100 metres away, I could see Slovenia”. In between stood the Kulpa River. The respondent recalls that “when I saw the river I threw myself into the water. I started swimming and swimming. What can I tell you? It was ice. Ice for the feet. I am good at swimming but my feet started to freeze.” The respondent reports that he decided to go back to the Croatian side of the river, after believing the fear of hypothermia and dying if he remained in the water. According to the respondent the transit group made it to a village in the north, to regroup after the attempt to cross the river. He states that they went to the village during the day, which to him “was the problem”, because he and the other members from the transit group were detained when arriving at the village. He reports being detained by police officers wearing black uniforms, and balaclavas. The respondent states that there was no visible mark of the Croatian symbol. In addition, the vehicle they were loaded in was a white van with no marked symbols of Croatian police. 
He recalls being taken then to the forested area at the border between Bosnia-Croatia. The respondent recalls that the injuries in his face happened when they were in the forest, when the police took him to the location that would end up being a spot used often by the Croatian Border police to burn the personal belongings from the members of transit groups before pushing them back. According to the respondent, he protested by stripping his clothings, which is when the police officer kicked him with his boot to his face, injuring him in the face as shown in the image attached to this report. The police officer, according to the respondent, also broke his phone and stole the money he had on him. The respondent explains that he was beaten intensely by police officers after getting out of the white van, and then forced to go in his underwear, before the police then burned all of their items in front of them. According to him they hit them with batons and were hit on the legs and hands. Subsequently, after this happened, the police officers forced the respondent and the other men he was with to walk on the burning coals in their bare feet. The respondent reports that the police officers used the batons to force the individuals to walk across the fire. According to him, “if you didn’t walk on the fire you would be hit until you did”. The respondent sufferers sustained burns on the bottom of his feet. He reports that he and the other members from the transit group were forced into the river by the police officers to cross into Bosnia.