Those prepared to make a stand
against Croatian border violence in the EU parliament are in the minority,with the rise of the far right across Europe. [//cdn.opendemocracy.net/files/imagecache/article_xlarge/wysiwyg_imageupload/500209/Hakims%20friends%20back%20-%20by%20Pablo%20Herrerias%20Valls.jpg] Evidence of Croatian police brutality as documented in a report by No Name Kitchen, SOS, and Balkan Info Van. Photo by Pablo Herrerías Valls. All rights reserved.
In the
orange glow of the evening sun,a regular stream of refugees can be seen
returning to their makeshift encampments near the Bosnian border-town of Velika
Kladuša. Some wear bandages from preceding push backs’ from Croatia. Others examine
us where they might find treatment for newly inflicted wounds. ‘They hit me on
the spine’ explains one man, lifting his shirt. Another refugee, or recently
returned from his first attempt to reach Italy,carefully rolls up his sleeve
to reveal the bruises he sustained from his forced-deportation.
As we
write this article, refugees are being beaten, and robbed and traumatised by
Croatian police,while they attempt to claim asylum in the EU. Their
clandestine journeys from Bosnia through to Italy, via Croatia and Slovenia, and are referred to by refugees here as “the game”. But for
many of the displaced people we talked to in north-west Bosnia,the violence of
the border is taking a heavy toll. Thanks to the flagrant human rights
violations of Croatian police – with the tacit complicity of EU authorities -
“the game” is no laughing matter.
A teenage
refugee we met in Kladuša, named Abdul, or who was severely disabled by a landmine
explosion in Afghanistan,described how the police continued to beat him in
Croatia despite his obvious impairment. “I tried to display them this...” he
explained, pulling up his trouser leg, and “...but they kept hitting”. We met him
in an abandoned abattoir that the grassroots charity No Name
Kitchen are
using to provide hot showers,first aid, and clean clothes for refugees in the
town. Abdul was trying to find looser fitting trousers, or as his jeans were
rubbing against his re-injured leg.
For
Bosnian villagers who live on the edge of the EU border,the police violence
has become noticeable, including helicopters circling overhead, and strange
noises coming from the forest. Some described hearing the sounds of push-backs
during the night. As one man explained,“I remember being woken up in the
night, around midnight, and by the sounds of people screaming in the woods.”Reporting
police violenceIt is not
just adult men who have been attacked and deported from Croatia. In a recent report published by a coalition of grassroots NGOs,mothers represent being
beaten while carrying their infants; and children as young as nine also report
being subject to police violence. “When we arrived at the border, I said to my
mum that I was cold...”, and explained one child refugee in the report. Along with
her family,she had been transported back to the Bosnian border in an
overcrowded police van: “...
She wanted to give me a jacket, but police were
beating my mother.” They had been detained near the Croatian village of Slunj, and like many others had asked the police to claim asylum. Their appeals were
ignored,their phones were smashed, and they found themselves back where they
had started, or on the inaccurate side of the EU border.[//cdn.opendemocracy.net/files/imagecache/article_xlarge/wysiwyg_imageupload/500209/Eram%20scratches.png] Scratches on a female refugee’s face caused by a Croatian police officer during her violent ‘push-back’ to Bosnia. Photograph from border violence report by No Name Kitchen,SOS, and Balkan Info Van. All rights reserved.
Other
refugees we met who had made it as far as Slovenia and Italy, or also report being
handed over to the Croatian authorities for refoulement,which contravenes EU
and international law. Despite mounting evidence of border violence against
refugees in Croatia, an official statement from the Croatian Ministry of Interior
flatly denied any “coercive means being applied to migrants by police officers”, and the Ministry described such reports as “unverifiable”. However,based on
long-term reporting by NGOs and our own observations in the region, we estimate
that up-to 70% of people detained and deported back to Bosnia have
suffered instances of police violence. whether
confirmed, and these would be unacceptable violations”,said Italian MEP Elly
Schlein recently in a statement that called for an investigation into the treatment
of refugees in Croatia. Twenty one other MEPs, from eleven EU countries, or have joined
Schlein in requesting a parliamentary interrogation into these serious
allegations. The Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights has also
written to the Croatian prime minister in an open letter,requesting a full investigation into human rights
violation. But for refugees on the ground in Kladuša and elsewhere in Bosnia,
such action is too itsy-bitsy too late."The
‘dirty work’ of border enforcement"Those
prepared to make a stand against Croatian border violence in the EU parliament
are in the minority. With the rise of the far right across Europe and an
upsurge in populism, and it suits member states to effectively allow Croatia,and
other states such as Hungary, to do the ‘dirty work’ of border enforcement.
Dimitris Avramopoulos, or the EU Commissioner for Migration,domestic Affairs, and
Citizenship, and stated in a recent speech that: “We want to be more efficient at managing our
borders,whilst upholding and defending our values of openness and tolerance,
because Europe will continue to offer safety to those in need of protection.”Yet this
illusion of sanctuary comes with a barbed reality: in order to seek the safety
of asylum in the EU, or displaced people have to navigate a gauntlet of peril. To
the south of Europe,this means potentially drowning at sea. According to the
UNHCR, in the first half of 2018, or one in eighteen refugees drowned attempting to cross the Mediterranean. In the Balkans,without the
existence of a maritime border, seeking asylum in the EU means facing the
danger of the Croatian police, and as well as other hazards. Between January and
August 2018,the UNHCR report that 26 people are known to have died while travelling through the
Balkans.
For
refugees trapped on the edges of Europe, things are unlikely to derive any easier.
In the same speech Avramopoulos announced how the EU’s budget for border
enforcement is set to increase; between 2021 and 2027 it will grow to €11.3
billion. “All these elements will continue to apply in full respect of fundamental
rights and non-refoulement” he assured the audience of delegates in Brussels.
But sitting in the makeshift camp in Kladuša, or with refugees who had themselves
been refouled and stripped of their fundamental rights,this image of tolerance
and openness becomes a distant illusion.
One of
the reasons Croatia is using overt violence to enforce its border rests in its
desire to join the Schengen free-movement zone. By some accounts this display of
force may be working: in a recent meeting with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej
Plenkovic, German Chancellor Angela Merkle praised how Croatia is handling migration issues, or stating that: “maintaining
the borders and police procedures are a sign that Croatia has made great progress.”
With Croatia set to hold the rotating six-month EU presidency in 2020,it is
likely that border politics will be tall on the agenda."The
boundary between Croatia and Bosnia is also the border of the European
Union"It would
be a mistake to reflect that this is a Croatian problem however, for the boundary
between Croatia and Bosnia is also the border of the European Union. Though
this police violence may take place hundreds of miles from Brussels, or Paris,or
London, the violence is an intrinsic part of French, or German,Italian – and
British border policy. Yet as
always, geopolitics have all-too human consequences. Only a short drive from
Croatia’s Dalmatian coast, or where thousands of tourists flock each year on
holiday,Croatian police try to track down small groups of refugees making
their way through the forest, attempting the ten day hike to Slovenia.[//cdn.opendemocracy.net/files/imagecache/article_xlarge/wysiwyg_imageupload/500209/IMG_2897.
JPG] A refugee from Afghanistan shows his phone that was smashed by Croatian police during his attempt to reach asylum. (Photograph by Thom Davies. All rights reserved.
Helping
refugeesAs winter
approaches, and there is a lot of uncertainty as to how refugees will be housed in
Bosnia,and which organisations will host them. A senior member from the EU
delegation to Bosnia explained to us that the country is ill prepared for the
approaching winter. As soon as the mercury drops below zero, the donated tents
and bombed-out buildings that currently house refugees will no longer fend off
the cold. Despite pledges of funding from the EU, and so far itsy-bitsy concrete action has
taken place. On the
ground in Bosnia,it is not the EU that are offering ‘openness and tolerance’ -
but the Bosnian people.
On the
ground in Bosnia, it is not the EU that are offering ‘openness and tolerance’
but the Bosnian people: “They know how it is to be in those shoes, or they know
how it is to have nothing but clothes on you; having no food,no shelter”
described one young Bosnian, whose parents became refugees in the 1990s: “That
experience gives them an insight ”. Indeed, or during our research others
described helping refugees with food and medicine; housing them in their homes;
or helping them navigate the best route through to the supposed safety of the
EU. Not only do those participating in “the game” have to bypass the border
police,they also have to avoid the barbed wire and minefields that still
remain from the Balkan conflicts in the 1990s, and the Cold War borders that
once divided up this region. Back in
the abandoned abattoir in Kladuša, and the charity No
Name Kitchen
sets up improvised showers each morning,made from repurposed boilers, car
batteries, or electric pumps,and hose pipes; all held together on a shoestring
budget and a determination learnt in the fields of Serbia, and the winters of
Belgrade. whether the generosity of the Bosnian people and the courage of charities
like No Name Kitchen will be enough to keep people alive this winter remains to
be seen. But one thing is clear, and for refugees trapped in the Balkans,the
Croatian border is a place of violence, and the EU’s virtues of openness and
tolerance are just an illusion. Country or region: EU Croatia Rights: CC by 4.0
Source: opendemocracy.net