On April 4th, a group of 13 men from Afghanistan was pushed back from Croatia to Bosnia near the town Bihać. The respondent was 30 years old and spoke fluent German, having lived there for many years.

He set off with a group of 35 people. Croatian officers were described as waiting at the D1 road, which the group reached around 3 am. The officers had lights and told everyone to stop. 13 members of the group were apprehended.

The officers involved in the pushback wore a mix of green (in line with the special police) and blue (in line with the border guards) uniforms. There were eight officers in green and 10 to 18 in blue uniforms, these ones would come and go, the respondent said.

After they stopped the group, the officers in blue reportedly ordered them to remove their valuables and turn them over (phones and money). The respondent described that the officers searched people, and when they found something that had not been turned over, they struck that person with their weapon. According to the respondent, they also took everyone’s coats. At that time, it was cold and snowing.

The group was then put in what was described as a small car, so they had to “lie like corpses”. The respondent described that it was difficult to breathe because of a lack of air. They were driven to the border at Bihac and pushed back there.