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They were forced to cross the river by foot, with the water level at chest height.

Date & Time 2024-03-01
Location Coordinates: 45.028818, 15.762415 - Near the croatian village Basara
Reported by Collective Aid
Coordinates 45.028446789762, 15.761808451427
Pushback from Croatia
Pushback to Bosnia
Taken to a police station yes
Minors involved no
WLTI* involved no
Men involved yes
Age 21 - 23
Group size 2
Countries of origin Afghanistan
Treatment at police station or other place of detention denial of food/water
Overall number of policemen and policewomen involved 8
Violence used beating (with batons/hands/other), threatening with guns, destruction of personal belongings, theft of personal belongings, forced into the river
Police involved 8 officers, one Ducato van. They wore some sort of yellow uniform which the respondent associated with the military.

The respondent is a 21 year old man from Afghanistan.
On the 1th of March at 4 pm the respondent and his friend, a 23 year old Afghan man, were stopped in their effort trying to get to Zagreb – where they have family.

From the city of Vrovine in Croatia the respondent and his friend began their walk on the railways towards Zagreb. After 4-5 five stops, so in an area between the train station in Karlovac and the Zagreb Glavni Kolodvor train station – according to the Croatian railway company HZPP’s schedule – they were stopped by what the respondent believed to be officers.

Between eight and nine people – which the respondent recognized as officers – turned up on the railway from various sites. They wore some sort of yellow uniform which the respondent associated with the military. One of these people pulled a gun and forced the respondent and his friend to put their hands in the air. Another filmed the sequence on an iPhone 14 or 15. The respondent and his friend obeyed and came into custody of the police.

After the encounter they were put into a vehicle without windows for about one and a half hours, the respondent reported it was a Ducato van. The vehicle brought the respondent and his friend to a police station. When leaving the vehicle the respondent was slapped with a flat hand on his cheek by what he presume was one of the officers. At the station they asked for food, because they hadn’t been eating for 15 hours. Their request was denied. At the station they got a power bank stolen and had their phones investigated. They had to answer the question “what is this” to several pictures from their private gallery. The respondent’s phone was damaged, when he finally got it back.

After their detention at the station, they were taken on a 70 minute ride in a car. The respondent and his friend were let out next to the Korana-river that forms part of the border between north west Bosnia and Croatia. With – what the respondent recognized as – officers behind them, they were forced to cross the river by foot with the water level at chest height. A WhatsApp thread on the respondents phone reveals that they were again on firm ground, on a riverbank in Bosnia, and alone, at 19:20 pm – approximately three and a half hours after the encounter on the railways in the afternoon.