Original Report
On February 4, five men from Pakistan were pushed back from Croatia to Bosnia. The man giving this testimony was 33 years old.
He described that they were apprehended while resting in a broken house near the 42 road in Croatia (near these coordinates: 45°01’53.7″N 15°24’38.9″E). Three officers wearing camouflage uniforms with name badges (consistent with the special police) entered the house. They kicked the fire the group was using to dry their clothes, causing sparks and hot wood to burn the men. The respondent described telling these police he wanted asylum five times, to no avail.
These first three officers called another car. Two officers wearing dark blue arrived in a white van without windows in the back.
They were driven around for two hours (the most direct route to the border should take about one hour, according to Google maps). “For torture, they do bad driving,” the respondent said. He further described that they did “all kinds of bad driving” while the transit group sat in the back without seat belts – this included sudden braking and driving in circles. They did not ask the officers to stop, because this had led to beatings in the past.
At the border there were “too many police,” however, the respondent could not describe them because the officers ordered them to bow their heads and look down. The officers demanded they take off their bags, which contained food and clothing and leave them. Though they returned all money to the transit group, they took three phones from them.
The group was pushed back near Bihac.