Original Report
On the 11th of March 2022, a group of 50 people was pushed back from Croatia and beaten by what they considered Croatian police. Among the group, there were people from Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.
The respondent affirms that he and his group started to walk in the evening on the 8th of March 2022; they spent one night in a forest close to Bihać. After that, they crossed the border close to the village of Bugar (BiH).
Once they arrived in Croatia, they kept on walking, but after a few hours, on the 11th of March, at 1 am, they were caught by what the respondent describes as Croatian police. The respondent claims there were eight to ten policemen, with blue uniforms.
“The police stopped us, and we didn’t say a word. They only said ‘Sit down and shut up and make a line!’. We were sitting, they beat and kicked us.”
After that, the respondent affirms:
“They forced us to take off our clothes; they checked us everywhere for an hour. They stole our bags, torches, lighters, money, phones, chargers, somebody’s shoes and some clothes. They also took our food and smashed it to the ground.”
After the violence was perpetrated, the 50 people were loaded in three different vans. The respondent claims the driver took three hours to arrive close to Velika Kladuša.
“He was driving so bad, he went round and round. We felt sick and one Pakistani guy vomited.”
The 50 people were released 25 km from Velika Kladuša; they walked back tired, shocked, and without food and they arrived at Miral camp.
“We couldn’t ask for asylum from the police. They weren’t listening, and they just said ‘sit down and shut up, sit down and shut up’. If they knew I speak good English, they would have probably been more violent.”