On the 13th of October, a group of 70 people report that they were caught by police in Croatia, very close to the Slovenian border.

The respondents said they left Lipa camp in Bosnia with a group of 70 people on the 1st of October at 1 p.m.; the group included both Afghan and Pakistani people. There were also 2 minors in the group.

They crossed the border to Croatia from Bihać, walking through the mountains. They stayed for 12 days inside the jungle and reported that the conditions were terrible, it was very cold and it rained almost all the time.

“There was too much rain. We never slept, all day all night walking for 12 days.”

The respondents said that on the 13th of October they arrived in proximity to the Slovenian border, after walking close to E65; at 10 p.m. The respondent reported that the group was finally resting after hours of nonstop walking, when what they referred to as the Croatian border police arrived. They were 12 males, wearing blue uniforms and they weren’t wearing masks.

“They didn’t beat us, but they say if you run, we beat you. They were not bad with us, but they stole our phone and power bank.” 

The respondent reported that, after this interaction, the uniformed men drove the group for 2-3 hours in 3 seperate vehicles and left all the people close to the border to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The interviewer notes that all the respondents looked tired, their hands and feet had many wounds.

“We walked back to Lipa, you can see our feet now are not good.”