*All last names have been withheld to protect the identities of migrants during their asylum processes. Some first names have been changed on request.Bihac, Bosnia and Herzegovina – They come from all over: Afghanistan, Egypt, Morocco, Pakistan, Syria and Sudan. But a shared goal unites them – reaching European Union soil.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listFor now, the refugees and migrants wait in Bihac, an unassuming town in Bosnia and Herzegovina near the Croatian border. As the EU works to overhaul its asylum system this year, their hopes of gaining refuge in Europe are being diminished.Bosnia is not an EU member, but Croatia is.Under the cover of the rugged woods of the Balkans, people are violently returned to Bosnia by Croatian authorities, a practice described as an illegal pushback by rights groups. According to international law, anyone arriving at a border has the right to request asylum and remain in the country while their claim is considered.Migrants here say they are denied that opportunity, instead being forcibly sent back across the border: often bruised, stripped of their phones and winter clothing, and forced to start the journey again.In more than a dozen testimonies to Al Jazeera, migrants spoke repeatedly of being physically assaulted and robbed by Croatian authorities.“Everyone here has a story,” says 54-year-old Hamid regretfully, his dee …
