Skip to content
Support our work

This is Serbia, go back to Serbia, don’t come back here

Date & Time 2023-01-07
Location In the forest, close to the city of Ilok
Reported by No Name Kitchen
Coordinates 45.1733125, 19.3613125
Pushback from Croatia
Pushback to Serbia
Taken to a police station no
Minors involved no
WLTI* involved no
Men involved no
Age 23 - 24
Group size 3
Countries of origin Tunisia
Treatment at police station or other place of detention
Overall number of policemen and policewomen involved 5
Violence used no violence used
Police involved 5 Croatian officers wearing blue police uniforms with "police" patch; 1 police car; 1 police van

On the 7th of January 2023 at around 9 am three Tunisian men aged 23 – 24 years old were apprehended in the Croatian town of Ilok.

They recall seeing a car approaching- described as a police car- with two people inside. These people are described as wearing blue uniforms with the police logo on them. The respondents state that they explained they wanted to go to Zagreb to ask for asylum and that they had problems in Serbia. One of the respondents explained to the officers that he broke his leg in Serbia.

At that point, they report that another big car came up: they describe it as “the type of car that brings people to the prison”. One person was inside of it, described as dressed like the former two people. The three officers brought the men back to the Serbian border and told them: “This is Serbia, go back to Serbia, don’t come back here”. They were forced to cross the border somewhere in the middle of the forest. They cannot remember the exact location. At around 10 am they were back in Serbia.

After two hours, the three respondents got back to the border and entered Croatian territory again. Reportedly, after 20 minutes two people caught them in the woods close to the border. This time, the people that apprehended them were described as two officers: they were not the same people that apprehended them the first time, but they were wearing the same uniforms. The respondents report that these two people brought them back to the Serbian border again, to the same place they were left in before, without- again- any possibility for them to ask for asylum.