On approximately July 10, a group of 18 persons from Afghanistan, including a young child, were deported from Croatia to Serbia. The primary respondent for this report was 30 years old and was travelling with his family.

Preceding their apprehension in the Croatian interior, the group had crossed into Croatia from Serbia on foot and had waited in a forested area for two nights. This forested area was approximately 20 km away from the border. The group had arranged to be picked up by a vehicle, however, no one came and the group eventually ran out of water. Facing dehydration, the group went to a nearby roadside to turn themselves in to the local police [exact location unknown]. After some time, the local police arrived to the group and then called for other officers to arrive to the scene to transport the group back to the Croatian border with Serbia. This second group of officers arrived with a van with no windows in the back carriage which the group was led into and driven to the border in.

They were not physically harmed nor were their possessions destroyed or stolen. However, they were all placed in a van to drive thirty minutes to the border with Sid. Though this van had a ventilation shaft on the roof it was kept closed in spite of the extreme heat. People were having trouble breathing and the child cried continuously, but the police refused to open the shaft.

After being driven back to the border, the group was taken out of the prisoner transport vehicle and told to walk back into Serbian territory.