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The respondent reports that officers were angered by the request for asylum, and began insulting the respondent.

Date & Time 2024-02-22
Location Glušci, Croatia
Reported by Collective Aid
Coordinates 43.051114704841, 17.657726622901
Pushback from Croatia
Pushback to Bosnia
Taken to a police station no
Minors involved yes
WLTI* involved yes
Men involved yes
Age 18 months - 38
Group size 3
Countries of origin Choose not to say
Treatment at police station or other place of detention
Overall number of policemen and policewomen involved 4
Violence used no violence used, insulting, theft of personal belongings
Police involved 4 police officers, 1 woman and 3 men, wearing black uniforms with the word "Policija" written on their back and their arms.

The respondent describes that he, his wife, and their 18-month-old son, who was unwell and needed medical attention, attempted to cross the border from Bosnia to Croatia, near Glušci.

He reported noticing sensors fitted into the ground, designed to detect people crossing the border. There were also drones in the sky. The respondent believes that he and his family may have been detected by either the drones or the sensors since the sensors were hard to see and avoid in the dark. 

Four people in an unmarked white car, identified by the respondent as Croatian special police officers, approached the respondent and his family. More people, also identified by the respondent as police officers, quickly began to enter the area. The respondent spoke to them and requested asylum and medical care for his son. He asked to be taken to a police station to be formally identified. These requests were not granted. The officers shone lights on the faces of the respondent and his family. The respondent reports that they were angered by the request for asylum, and began insulting the respondent. The respondent describes that he saw the adrenaline in the eyes of the police officer. The officers reportedly took the respondent’s phone and money.  The respondent reports that the officers seemed to be preparing to beat the respondent and his family, but stopped because the respondent made them aware of the presence of his young child. 

The respondent and his family were taken by car from where they were apprehended near Glušci to the border crossing near Metković. They were left by the side of the E73 road on the Croatian side and made to walk back to Bosnia.