On the 12th of December, at around 7 pm, a group of 7 people was apprehended by Croatian authorities and subsequently pushed back to the area near Velika Kladusa, Bosnia Herzegovina.
The respondent describes that they were walking close to highway 23rd in the Croatian interior when the police apprehended them. The respondent describes that the three officers with green uniforms were hidden behind the trees. When they revealed themselves, they loudly shout to the group to sit down. The respondent describes that a minor was sick, he was coughing, and had a fever. One of the policemen kicked him while accusing the minor of spreading Coronavirus. The respondent claims the officer did not let them speak, and therefore they could not express their intention to apply for asylum. The officer then lead all the group members to vans that were waiting about 200 meters away. There, the group members got searched by the different officers in dark blue uniforms who took 200€, 3 phones, 3 power banks and smashed a phone.
“The police searched us the pocket and the private places where we could have hidden the money, when the police find the money, the police took the money”
The respondent could not recall the exact number of police officers present in that place. From there, the group members were transported to the police station. The group members described the room of the police station as an old, cold, ruined room. They were detained for what the respondent felt was about two hours without the possibility to use the toilet. After this, they were transported back to the border with Bosnia by 3 police officers around 11 pm. At the border location, the group was asked to leave the car and forced to walk back over the border.