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Almost to Italy - then pushed back to Bosnia

Date & Time 2022-01-14
Location Near Velika Kladuša, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Reported by No Name Kitchen
Coordinates 45.1840797, 15.8068421
Pushback from Croatia, Slovenia
Pushback to Bosnia, Croatia
Taken to a police station no
Minors involved no
WLTI* involved no
Men involved yes
Age 25 - 35
Group size 15
Countries of origin Afghanistan, Pakistan
Treatment at police station or other place of detention
Overall number of policemen and policewomen involved 29-35
Violence used beating (with batons/hands/other), forcing to undress, destruction of personal belongings, theft of personal belongings
Police involved 20-25 officers in camouflage; 4 further officers in unknown uniforms driving 1 van; 5-6 officers in all black wearing balaclavas

On the 14th of January 2022, a group of 15 men from Pakistan and Afghanistan were pushed back from Slovenia to Croatia and subsequently from Croatia to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The respondent was a 35-year-old man from Pakistan. He reported that they were about ten kilometers from Italy when they were apprehended (45.544275, 13.883258; see map).

Image: Location at which the respondent and his group were apprehended.

The respondent described that his group was apprehended at about 7 am on the 14th of January 2022, while he was eating his breakfast. He believes that they were caught because sensors detected the voices of people talking – but it was unclear why he drew this conclusion.

According to the respondent, 20 to 25 Slovenian officers in camouflage uniforms surrounded them in the morning. He described that these officers took the group’s bags, phones, and shoes.

These officers then called for what the respondent said were Slovenian border police, he did not describe them further because the group was ordered to sit with their faces to the ground and not look up. There were four officers in one police van, who drove the group to the border with Croatia.

At the border, about five or six officers wearing all black and balaclavas (referred to as “Commandos”) were waiting, by the respondent described as Croatian officers. The respondent explained that they drove the group straight to the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, near Velika Kladuša. This group, he said, was “very bad”; they reportedly beat the men with batons and took the rest of their clothes so that they were pushed back to Bosnia and Herzegovina wearing only underwear and forced to walk barefoot.