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The policeman said: 'give me everything you have'

Date & Time 2022-03-03
Location Velika Kladuša
Reported by No Name Kitchen
Coordinates 45.05454336, 15.74955121
Pushback from Croatia
Pushback to Bosnia
Taken to a police station no
Minors involved no
WLTI* involved no
Men involved yes
Age 18 - 26
Group size 5
Countries of origin Pakistan
Treatment at police station or other place of detention
Overall number of policemen and policewomen involved 7
Violence used destruction of personal belongings, theft of personal belongings
Police involved 7 officers, 2 vans

On 3rd March 2022 in the evening the respondent together with four friends, all young men from Pakistan took a taxi from Velika Kladuša, BiH to a place near the border with Croatia. Leaving that place around 11 pm, they crossed the border into Croatia and from there walked in the forest for an estimated five hours before what the respondent describes as Croatian police apprehended them. The respondent recounts that they were walking in the direction of Slunj, Croatia.

The group related that they were apprehended by seven officers who they identified as Croatian policemen looking at their uniforms. The apprehension took place at around 4 am in the forest near Croatian highway A1. The policemen stopped the group and told them to give them everything they had. Reportedly, the officers then proceeded to take the five power banks and five mobile phones of the respondent and his friends. The group voiced their wish to claim asylum repeatedly, but the policeman did not react. The respondent was unable to see where the policeman brought the group´s belongings. They only returned a few of the mobile phones, which in the meantime had been broken (see the main image). The officers kept the power banks.

The respondent described the policemen as aggressive in their behavior and language, while they escorted the group to two police vans waiting on the highway. The walk between the apprehension and the police vans lasted approximately 30-40 minutes. The policeman told the group to get into the two vehicles and the group followed the request. The police then drove the group to a border crossing nearby.

The group was pushed back at the official border crossing between Maljevac, HR, and Velika Kladuša, BiH. The Croatian border police waited for the group at the border and pointed in the direction of Velika Kladuša, telling the respondent and his friend to walk that way. The group arrived back in Velika Kladušaaround 8 am.