On the 20th of May 2021, the respondent left Bihać, Bosnia in a group of 50 people, all from Afghanistan. On the afternoon of their sixth day, while they were having a break near the Croatian highway E65, they were found, according to the respondent, by a group police officers.
The respondent reported that six officers surrounded the group and sprayed pepper spray in the direction of the sitting people. Still, some group members managed to run away. With the pepper spray in their eyes, the affected persons could not see properly for at least six hours. The respondent reports that his eyes were hurting terribly.
Almost unable to see, the group was reportedly squeezed into three cars and driven to an unknown police station. The respondent described that the officers took away all their belongings (cellphones, power banks, money, bags, food, and water). They were only left with the clothes they were carrying. Furthermore, the respondent claimed that the officers were laughing at them and using humiliating language.
At around 10 PM they were brought back to the Croatian-Bosnian border near Šturlić, Bosnia. The group was forced to cross the river, with the water reaching up to hip height. The respondent claimed that otherwise they would have been beaten by the officers. The group walked for seven hours until they reached Šturlić in the early morning.