On February 4th, the respondent, a 33-year-old man from Pakistan was pushed back from Croatia to Bosnia along with four other men from Pakistan.

He described that they were apprehended while resting in an old house near the 42 road in Croatia (near the following coordinates: 45°01’53.7″N 15°24’38.9″E). Three officers wearing camouflage uniforms with name badges (consistent with the special police) reportedly 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 and two officers described as wearing dark blue arrived in a white van without windows in the back.

The transit group were then driven around for approximately 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, the respondent stated, there were “too many police.” However, he respondent could not describe them in detail because the officers had ordered them to bow their heads and look down. The officers demanded they remove 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.