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The group of ten was left by themselves inside the van for 18 to19 hours without food, water and toilets.

Date & Time 2019-03-17
Location near Velika Kladusa, Bosnia
Reported by Border Violence Monitoring Network
Coordinates 45.198095, 15.798897
Pushback from Croatia
Pushback to Bosnia
Taken to a police station no
Minors involved no
WLTI* involved no
Men involved yes
Age 20 - 34
Group size 10
Countries of origin Morocco, Algeria
Treatment at police station or other place of detention no translator present, denial of access to toilets, denial of food/water
Overall number of policemen and policewomen involved 7
Violence used beating (with batons/hands/other), forcing to undress, destruction of personal belongings, theft of personal belongings, theft of passports
Police involved 2 Croatian officers in green uniforms, 6 Croatian officers in blue uniforms (5 male & 1 woman), 1 van

After the group of ten people on the move had walked through the forests for ten days, they were detected by Croatian officers in Buzet. They had just sat down in the mountains for a short food break, when two Croatian officers in green uniforms saw them. The officers told the group to get up and asked if they carried knives or guns with them. Afterwards, the individuals had to undress in order to be searched by the officers. They also searched their bags, checked the phones to see the locations on google maps sent via Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp and looked through all their personal photos as stated by the respondent.

They took their power banks, phones and passports and called other officers to pick them up. When the group of people on the move asked for asylum, the officers denied it and started laughing. A group of six Croatian officers in blue uniforms, five men and one woman, arrived and the individuals were told to enter the van.

The group of ten was left by themselves inside the van for approximately 18 hours without food, water and toilets. Afterwards, they were brought back to the Bosnian border. The estimated location is shown on the map. 

When they arrived at the Bosnian border, the officers returned their power banks and phones in a bag, but not the passports. Also, one iPhone 6 was missing.

They beat each of them with a baton, telling them:

“Go, go, Velika Kladusa!”

They were five kilometers far away from Velika Kladusa.