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35 days walking too much problem. I talk with my brother who was on same game. He is in Italy now so I feel I am ready to go again.

Date & Time 2021-06-11
Location Bosanska Bojna, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Reported by Anonymous Partner
Coordinates 45.19513833, 16.02132821
Pushback from Croatia, Italy, Slovenia
Pushback to Bosnia
Taken to a police station yes
Minors involved yes
WLTI* involved no
Men involved yes
Age 1 - 55
Group size 18
Countries of origin Pakistan
Treatment at police station or other place of detention detention, fingerprints taken, photos taken, personal information taken, papers signed, denial of food/water
Overall number of policemen and policewomen involved unknown
Violence used beating (with batons/hands/other)
Police involved Italian police officers wearing black uniforms with the Italian flag on it, Croatian and Slovenian police officers

The respondent is an 18 years old boy from Pakistan. He left Bihać around October, 3. The transit group was composed of 50 people in total. They were all men from Pakistan: about 20 minors and an elderly man. The respondent was traveling with his older brother. During the way, about half of them were apprehended and pushed back by the police in Slovenia. He walked for approximately 35 days on foot. In fact, the group was slowed down by the difficult weather conditions in October and November, as they had to make several long stops due to the cold rain.

He recalls that it took them about 4 days to walk from Slovenia to the Italian border. There, he crossed into Italy from the Southern part of Trieste (probably around Muggia) and walked for 2 hours towards the city. Nevertheless, one policeman spotted them and reported them to other policemen. 3 police cars arrived and about 5 more policemen joined him. The police wore black uniforms but had Italian flags, according to the respondent. They took the Pakistani men to a police station in Italy (presumably not far from Trieste) and kept them there for the night. Here, they were briefly interviewed and given food. Of the group the interviewee traveled to Italy with, 18 people were pushed back and only 4 were allowed to stay in the country. Among the latter, there was his brother. The policemen did not explain why he or any of the other men were pushed back. He said that he wanted to stay and ask for asylum, but his request was ignored. 

The day after,  they were driven back to Slovenia at 2 PM and turned in to the Slovenian police. They were kept for a day in a police station in Slovenia. The policemen took their fingerprints and pictures. They told the respondent they could see he had already been in Slovenia 3 times. He said that he was forced to sign a document in Slovenian, but did not have time to read any translation, nor had any copy of it. They questioned him shortly about his name, his father’s name, his age, and his country of origin. The respondent is 18 years old, but he declared he was 17. The policeman looked at him and wrote on the paper that he is 25. 

Then they give warning: “Next time no come back, or we give punishment and put you for 3 months in jail.”

In fact, they were driven to Croatia the day after. He claims being kept in a sort of quarantine camp for two days. The respondent reports that police beat him with batons when he arrived there. He has some pain in his thigh because of that, but no major injuries. Moreover, they only fed them with biscuits there. His belongings (cellphone and power bank) had been taken by the Slovenian police, given to the Croatian one, and finally returned to him before the pushback: he and his group were left in Bosanska Bojna, Bosnia and Herzegovina, at 4 AM. They walked for 7 hours to Velika Kladuša, spent the night there, and then walked back to Bihać for one more day. 

It was a long game, 35 days walking too much problem. I talk with my brother who was on same game. He is in Italy now so I feel I am ready to go again.