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"When they forced us into the river at night I thought I would die. The friend who was with me had lost his mind, he kept asking for water even though we were inside the river."

Date & Time 2024-11-09
Location Near the border with Velika Kladusa, on the Croatian side
Reported by Anonymous
Coordinates 45.205128470845, 15.805812131738
Pushback from Croatia
Pushback to Bosnia
Taken to a police station no
Minors involved yes
WLTI* involved no
Men involved yes
Age 13 - 26
Group size 10
Countries of origin Afghanistan
Treatment at police station or other place of detention
Overall number of policemen and policewomen involved 5
Violence used beating (with batons/hands/other), pushing people to the ground, water immersion, theft of personal belongings, tactical fire-setting for entrapment
Police involved 5 military men with Croatian military uniform. Black van with grates on the windows, the number of vans is unknown.

The respondent is a 24-year-old man from Afghanistan, he was part of a transit group of 10 people, one of them was a minor of 13 years old. The respondent and his friend are from Afghanistan, the other nationalities are unknown.

They were walking in the forest near the Croatian city of Ogulin at 10 p.m. on Friday the 8th of November when they encountered 5 men wearing military uniforms. The respondent did not recognize any of the men in the gallery photos, but after searching online, he identified images of Croatian military personnel as the individuals in question.

To escape from them the transit group started to run, but the military men set a fire in the forest and that is how they managed to apprehend them, they couldn’t run anymore because of the smoke.

Right after the militaries forced the respondent and the rest of the transit group onto the ground, they started shouting “Why did you run away?“. At the same time, they were also subjected to beatings, including the minor. Afterward, they stole their mobile phones, money, and personal belongings. They were then put into a black van with grates on the windows; the number of the vans is unknown.

The respondent declared it was still night, 1 a.m. on Saturday the 9th of November, when they reached the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the military men pushed them back to Bosnia. The transit group was forced through the river Glina, in a location near Velika Kladusa. The respondent recognized the location indicated on the map but the coordinates were not precise as he couldn’t remember the exact location since it was night and he didn’t have his phone.

The respondent affirmed: “When they forced us into the river at night I thought I would die. The friend who was with me had lost his mind, he kept asking for water even though we were inside the river. The minor was stronger than us, he laughed in front of the Croatian soldiers.”

After the pushback, the transit group managed to reach Velika Kladusa by walking.