USE YOUR OWN PICTURE (22)

from Croatia to Bosnia,

The main respondent is a 41-year-old man from Palestine. The respondent reports that he left Bihac with a taxi in a small group of three together with a 26-year-old man from Turkey and a 46-year-old man from Syria. He reports that the group left Bihac on the evening of the 10th of December 2023 and got dropped off by the taxi at a distance of 8 kilometres to the border with Croatia. The respondent states that the group started to walk and crossed the border into the Croatian forest at 1 a.m. on the 11th of December. According to the respondent, they walked for about 10 kilometres in the dark on small, muddy paths which made all of them fall to the ground several times. He recalls arriving at a small crossroad of forest paths when they realised that there was something in the wood and turned on their flashlights: they found out that they were standing in front of a vehicle with two men wearing uniforms. The respondent describes the men wearing dark blue uniforms with the Croatian flag on the shoulder and everyone was holding a baton. According to the description, the uniforms could match with those usually worn by the Croatian Border Police. The respondent states that the two Border Police officers called for back up using their radio and another vehicle with four more police officers arrived a short time later.
The respondent recalls that the group of three was forced to enter in one of the police vehicles, described as a big van, before being driven to the border while the other police car was following. The respondent reports that they arrived at a river which in this area marks the border between Bosnia and Croatia. The respondent states that the police searched them, but they didn’t find anything. The respondent describes that the police officers told them to walk back through the river. The respondent has the impression that they didn’t got beaten because he is a tall guy with tattoos on his face. The respondent reports that they followed the instructions to go into the river directly. The respondent describes the water level of the river being up to his knees. He states that they walked back on the Bosnian side for a while until they found an abandoned house near the border. The respondent recalls that on the first floor of the abandoned house there were already about 15 people, among them also several children. The respondent states that he and the other two guys he departed with from Bihac were staying on the ground floor that he describes as a stable. He recalls laying some garbage bags on the floor, and states that the night under this conditions was very cold. The respondent recalls that they woke up early on the next day, the 12th of December, and left the abandoned house by foot at around 8 am. He reports that they crossed the border to Croatia again and walk for about 15 kilometres. The respondent reports that at around 1 p.m. they got stopped by two men wearing uniforms in the forest. He describes the men as “Croatian Police” wearing similar uniforms to those who pushed them back the day before. He states that the police officers told them to wait for about three hours. The respondent states that they were freezing a lot but were also afraid to continue walking cause they were afraid that the police officers could shoot at them. The respondent states that eventually another police vehicle arrived and after being forced to get inside they were driven the border, which was also this time marked through a river. The respondent reports that they had to walk through the river another time. “We already felt like corpses“ .
The respondent claims that after the second push back they had no more money left and were very tired so they started to walk again back to Bihac.

overview

3 people ,

from Palestine, Syria, Turkey,

aged 26-46 years old.