The group of five had walked through the Croatian woodlands for one full day. At
night, they camped approximately 20 km far from Velika Kladuša (BIH). They had made a small fire to keep them warm, but when an officer saw the flames, a patrol arrived at their location. At a nearby track, two cars pulled up, carrying six officers in black uniforms. They shouted at the group:
“Sit down and shut up!”
When one of the individuals later asked the officers for asylum, they replied:
“No, you go (back to Bosnia)!”
The officers then checked their pockets and took all their belongings. Then, the group had to enter what was described as an estate car which was driven for 15 minutes. When they got of the car, they realized that they had been taken back at the Maljevac (HRV) border crossing from where they had left Bosnia just some hours ago.
The officers told them to walk back into Bosnian territory. At this point they
returned their phones, but they kept the power banks, headphones and cables.