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He took all, no give back

Date & Time 2022-04-23
Location close to Glinica, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Reported by No Name Kitchen
Coordinates 45.21150007, 15.92725929
Pushback from Croatia
Pushback to Bosnia
Taken to a police station no
Minors involved no
WLTI* involved no
Men involved yes
Age 25 - 30
Group size 30
Countries of origin Pakistan, Bangladesh
Treatment at police station or other place of detention
Overall number of policemen and policewomen involved 10
Violence used kicking, threatening with guns, gunshots, theft of personal belongings
Police involved 10 police men, dark blue uniforms, 4-5 cars and 2 vans

A group of about 30 single men from Pakistan and Bangladesh got pushed back to Bosnia and Herzegovina by Croatian authorities on April, 23rd, 2022.

The men started in Velika Kladuša at 9pm on April, 19th. They then slept and walked for the next 3 – 4 days in the forest. During this time there was a lot of rain. After those days, they tried to cross a road at around 7pm, where some officers caught them, demanding to ‘come and sit down’. A few of the men tried to run away but the police shot bullets in the air and screamed that they should sit down. The uniformed men then started to take pictures of the men and searched their bodies and bags. They stole about 26 phones, several powerbanks and money.

He took all, no give back.

Once the officers were done with searching everyone, which took about 1 – 2 hours, they loaded everyone into 2 big vans. There was little space since there were about 15 people in each van, however, they had seats. They drove for about 20 minutes towards the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. The respondent thinks it must have been around 10 or 11 pm, on April 23rd. He did not really know where exactly they got pushed back, since they did not have a phone to check for directions. The officers opened the doors and as soon as the men got off the vans, they started hitting everyone with their feet. Some tried running away but fell down. At the border, it was completely dark and only forest.

No orientation, no mobile. Too much dark.

After the pushback the group had to walk for about 6 hours to get back to Velika Kladusa, where they tried to enter Miral camp, but they were turned down as a result of the planned closure of the camp. Leaving them with no other option, but to go to a nearby squat. Since most phones got stolen by the police, the men did not have any possibility to reach their families in Pakistan and Bangladesh, which made them feel ‘very, very bad’