On Friday the 9th of August 2024, at roughly 22:00 pm CET a group of fifteen people from Syria were apprehended near Brodski Stupnik in Croatia after crossing from Bosnia-Herzegovina. At the hands of Croatian police, the group was attacked with dogs, and beaten using excessive force – including electrocution – before being detained for three nights and pushed back into Bosnia.
The group which mainly consisted of men, also included women and three children. With an age range of ten to fifty-five years old. This account comes from a young man who was traveling as part of the transit group. He reported that they were initially apprehended in Croatia by six people whom he identified as Croatian police officers – wearing all black with “Policija’ written on the back. Using photographs the officers were further identified as being part of the Intervention Police Unit – also known as the IJP. The six Croatian officers also had one police dog.
During the initial apprehension, the group was attacked by the police dog which reportedly captured one person from their group. The man who was captured by the police dog was reportedly stomped and spat on by one of the officers whilst he was on the floor. Other members of the group were also “lightly” hit with what was described as “an electric stick”. Whilst being arrested, the oldest man in the group who had difficulties walking, attempted to explain to the officers in Arabic that he could not walk well or fast. This was not understood despite the older man gesturing to his legs. One of the officers proceeded to shout at the man then: “they [police] hit him in the legs” with the “electric stick”. Whilst the group was held during their apprehension, the respondent also reported that the officers stole all of the group’s money and most of their phones.
After the group was arrested they were all taken to the “Postaja Granicne Policije Slavonski Samac” (translates to: “Border Police Station Slavonski Samac”). According to the documents shown to us and the account of the young man, they remained detained there for three nights without any separation between minors or genders.
Reportedly they received only one small meal a day at 09:00 am CET. This totals three small meals over a 72-hour period. During the detention, one of the minors in their group, a fourteen-year-old, cried due to bad stomach pains. The minor and others within the group reportedly complained to the guards at the facility, asking for help for the minor but were repeatedly ignored; “no listening, no care, no medicine”.
Whilst they were detained, photos were reportedly taken of the group and they were forced to sign a document which was translated both in Croatian and Arabic. This document was stated to be a “Decision on expulsion” and declared that the signator “resides illegally in the Republic of Croatia and is obliged to leave the European Economic Area” and that the signatory is now “prohibited from entering and staying in the European Economic Area for one year, counting from the day of forced removal”. The document also states that the signatory “will be forcibly removed to BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA”. All members of the group were forced to sign the document despite having asked to claim asylum repeatedly, a request which was ignored.
After three nights in detention, the group was loaded into a van and transported to the Bosnian border. The respondent described the vehicle as a “jail car” with a “box in the back”. The respondent believed that the vehicle was electric. There were reportedly no windows or ventilation in the back of the vehicle. He stated that the group had “no air, no anything”. The journey in this vehicle lasted for what felt like one hour. When they reached the Bosnian border control the group was handed over to Bosnian authorities who then transported them to the camps in Sarajevo: Usivak Family Camp and Blazuj Mens Camp.
We met the respondent on the 14th of August 2024 at Blazuj Single Mens Camp. We took this testimony on the following day, the 15th of August 2024. The next day, on the 16th of August 2024, we received communications at 12:29 pm CET from the respondent: “Hello we are now in Croatia forests of Croatia”, “The dog attacked us, and now we are hiding. The police are looking for us and the dog”. It was further stated in messages translated from Arabic that there were minors with this group. Following messages from the respondent in English expressed: “We are now in trouble in the forests of Croatia”. At 16:53 pm CET, we were sent a photograph of a leg wound and in English from the respondent, he said: “My brother, 14 years old, was bitten by the Croatian police dog”. The respondent reported that the dog attack took place in the Croatian forest in Kobiljak and sent us a map location of the attack.