The Syrian migrant who claimed he was separated from his five-year-old daughter last month in a Croatian village, an NGO helping migrants told Croatian media outlets.

“According to the information we have, he is in Italy as he followed the alleged trace of his daughter’s movement,” said NGO Are You Syrious.

Speaking for Croatian television RTL, the Syrian migrant said he went to Italy to look for his daughter. He was told by certain smugglers that the girl left to Italy with a family from Iraq and that they were paid EUR 2,000 to take her there.

“I am tired and I want to go back to Bosnia or Croatia to find her. My girl is there. Actually, I don’t want to go back to Croatia because their police are dangerous. I want to go back to Bosnia,” he said for RTL.

The man gave a statement last month, saying he had crossed the Bosnia-Croatia border illegally with his daughter and a family from Iraq, and that he was separated from five-year-old Alisa while he was trying to buy some provisions in the Croatian village of Smoljanac.

After he reported the missing child to the Croatian police, the man was granted asylum on humanitarian grounds and was accommodated in a migrant centre in Zagreb.