"We need protection from Croatia, please protect us"

The respondent is a 28-year-old man from Palestine. He was part of a transit group that consisted of 5 people, including 3 adult men and 2 unaccompanied minors. The respondent was the only one from Palestine; the other 4 people were from Egypt. The transit group was pushed back from Croatia to Bosnia on the 20^th of October, around 6 p.m.

The transit group decided to cross the border on foot, without the use of taxi or similar. They left on the night of 19^th October and walked through the forests at night. On the 20^th afternoon, once they entered Croatian territory, they were apprehended about 15 km from the border in the woods. The respondent said it was around 3 p.m. After showing a map to him, he declared that at the moment of the apprehension, they were in the territory between Željava and Zaklopača, in Croatia. They were apprehended by three men inside a vehicle. The men were described as wearing black uniforms. When shown some pictures of different uniforms, the respondent recognized the uniform of the Croatian police as the one worn by the men. The transit group did not try to run or escape; instead, they asked for protection, pointing out the presence of 2 minors in the group. The respondent asked specifically for asylum, since his country is at war, but one of the three police officers said that they needed to wait for their “boss” to arrive and that crossing the border is illegal. While waiting for the “boss” to arrive, all of the people in the transit group were searched, along with their bags and belongings. In general, the transit group was treated “politely” by these police officers.

Later on, a bigger vehicle, described by the respondent as a van, approached. There were two more officers inside, one woman and one man: they started to angrily yell at the group, without any respect. Then, the policemen took the members of the transit group one by one inside the van. They checked their belongings again, finding the only phone that the group had. It was immediately confiscated and destroyed. While inside the van, the respondent and the other members of the group were kicked in their knees and beaten on their shoulders and arms. 

Soon after, the group was transported inside the van to be pushed back into Bosnian territory, far away from the point of apprehension. The respondent could not remember the precise location of the pushback due to being in a van without windows. The respondent said that the police dropped them when the sun was about to set, so it was probably around 6 p.m. They did not have phones anymore, so they started walking without a clear indication. 

This was the second pushback for the respondent. The respondent describes the first pushback as more cruel and violent, as he was strongly beaten on his head. Additionally, all of his money was seized, which is why he opted not to carry any money or phone with him the second time.