Croatian police are accused of violence and abuse of migrants on the border with Bosnia.Is the EU “complicit”?

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Migrants beaten by masked Croatian police officers and forced to return across the border into Bosnia.It is the picture that emerges from the testimonies and videos reported in a published article last November 18th from Der Spiegel which reconstructs the attempt of several people fleeing their countries to cross the border between Bosnia and Croatia to reach Western Europe.

Der Spiegel tells what happened to "Ibrahim", a young Pakistani man who left Kashmir two years ago, based on his words and independent verifications:on a cold day at the end of March, along with other migrants, he was forced by alleged Croatian police men wearing a balaclava to take off his jacket and shoes.In these conditions, recalls Ibrahim, he and the others were hit on the back, arms and legs, even with heavy objects by the officers and forcibly forced to cross, in a point only a few meters wide, the Glina river, the border natural between Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.An officer allegedly shouted at him in English:«Jump!Go back to Bosnia!Subsequently, Ibrahim managed to arrive in Italy, where he presented a request for asylum.

Der Spiegel he goes on to explain that after the "Balkan route" – used by hundreds of thousands of refugees from Syria and other countries to reach Europe – was officially closed in 2016, "thousands of people have camped in forest and ancient war ruins in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina."From this point, every night they try to overcome the guards on the border with Croatia, armed and equipped with night vision goggles.They have been coming for years reported illegal abuses and pushbacks carried out by (often hooded) Croatian agents:"Photos from aid organizations show migrants with bloody lacerations, broken arms and teeth, and dark red marks on their backs.Asylum seekers speak of torture with stun guns, sexual abuse and torn nails."Over time, numerous of these testimonies have been collected by non-governmental organizations, doctors and also by theUNHCR.

The Croatian authorities have always denied and rejected reports of abuse and rejection of migrants carried out against laws and conventions.For the Croatian Interior Minister, Davor Bozinovic, these people would have been injured in accidents or would have injured each other and then blamed the Croatian border police, the German weekly always reports.After the publication of the article by Der Spiegel, Minister Bozinovic he questioned the truthfulness of the story because it would contain "a series of inconsistencies and contradictions" and announced that "naturally" the alleged incidents will be "carefully verified" and then public opinion will be informed about the results achieved.The government of Zagreb he spoke of a new attempt to discredit Croatia by groups who would like to prevent the country's accession to theSchengen area, i.e. the space of the European Union composed currently from 26 countries where you can travel without internal restrictions.

The evaluation process by the European Commission and Member States for Croatia to join the Schengen area began in 2016 and in October 2019 the country received a first positive evaluation.In the conclusion of this evaluation we read that Croatia should continue "to work (...) on the implementation of all ongoing actions, in particular in the management of external borders". According to Julija Kranjec, expert on migration issues at the Zagreb Center for Peace Studies (CPS), the main objective of Croatia's foreign policy is accession to the Schengen area because it would represent the full integration of the country into the EU (after joining become member in 2013) and to achieve this "it must demonstrate that it is willing and able to defend its borders – an external border of the EU – from substantial numbers of migrants".

Kranjec in a statement to DW he underlined that the behavior of the Croatian police represents a clear violation of international law and EU regulations:“All refugees who reach the territory of an EU member state and apply for asylum there have the right to have their application assessed.”And this also applies to those who arrive in the EU illegally.

At the moment, there are around 8,000-9,000 migrants living near the Bosnian border.Most of them come from Afghanistan, Pakistan or Syria.The local population was initially well disposed towards them, but then the mood changed.Now many complain of "intolerable conditions" and protest against the official and informal camps that have sprung up over time.

Croatia receives European funds for the management of external borders and among the requirements for access to the Schengen area there is also respect for human rights.On this aspect the European Commission he wrote in 2019 that measures had been adopted by Zagreb "to improve the protection of human rights, including a commitment to investigate allegations of mistreatment of migrants and refugees at the external borders, Croatia continues to respect its commitment to regarding this aspect".

In October, Ylva Johansson, commissioner for internal affairs of the EU Commission, after receiving a report denouncing illegal pushbacks and inhumane treatment of people on the Croatian border with Bosnia-Herzegovina, announced "an in-depth discussion with the authorities Croatians on these and other reports of violations of fundamental rights".

Furthermore, last November 10th, the Office of the European Ombudsman he started an investigation building on Amnesty International's complaint against the European Commission to understand how the Commission "intends to ensure that the Croatian authorities respect fundamental rights in the context of border management operations". According to the complaint in fact there would be doubts about the establishment of a real monitoring mechanism by the European Commission on Croatia's external border management operations and about the way in which the funds allocated for this task were used by Zagreb.

"Croatia is acting under pressure from other EU states", to support him, reports DW, MEP Erik Marquardt of the German Green Party."Many EU states are complicit in this behaviour.It appears that the European Commission or individual EU member states are exerting political pressure to ignore EU human rights in this case."

To confirm this, Marquardt said a DW, the fact that "negotiations to join the Schengen area were started only after the country began to systematically push back refugees at the border, including with violence."

Commenting on this news, Eve Geddie, Director of Amnesty International's Office of European Institutions, he declared:«Today's announcement of an investigation by the Office of the European Ombudsman into how the European Commission allowed funds to continue to be used without ensuring respect for human rights is a significant first step in addressing these abuses and identify responsibilities."

Emily O'Reilly, European mediator, he said to Euronews that “with our investigation, we are examining the funding granted by the EU commission to the Croatian authorities in relation to border management.Our questions are very simple, I would say journalistic:who, what, when, how and why.What was done, where did the money go, who took care of this mechanism."The Commission's response must arrive by January:“Once this is done, if we find that this is a case of maladministration, we will make recommendations to the European Commission.”

Preview photo away @NoNameKitchen1

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