A group of 13 young men from Pakistan walked from Velika Kladuša to the Croatian border on September 12, 2022; slept close to the border, and crossed it the next morning. After crossing the border, they walked for a day and a night in Croatian territory, before being intercepted by Croatian authorities, and eventually brought back to the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, near the town they left from: Velika Kladuša.
According to the respondent, officers apprehended the group on September 14th around 11 a.m., while they were having a break from the tiring long walk. Three officers reportedly surrounded the men who were sitting on the ground eating, and pointed firearms at them to threaten them. The respondent described that the officers were wearing blue uniforms, a description matching the uniform usually worn by regular Croatian police officers.
Straight after, the officers reportedly ordered the transit group to lie on the ground face down and yelled at them “Don’t move!”. They searched the transit group’s pockets and bags, but did not remove any of their belongings. After the body search, the group had to wait for another 10 minutes before a vehicle (a white van with “Police” written on it) arrived. The respondent described that the van had no windows, but was equipped with regular seats. Inside the van there was no light nor mobile network.
After an approximated 30 minutes drive, the group was left at the border close to Velika Kladuša. The respondent states that they did not have to cross any river on their way back, therefore the pushback location was presumably west of Velika Kladuša, south of Maljevac.