Friday

29th Mar 2024

EU Commission to probe Croat border attacks on migrants

The European Commission intends to send officials to monitor the Croat border following fresh allegations of torture of migrants and asylum seekers, which it condemned.

Speaking to reporters on Friday (12 June), a commission spokesperson said a monitoring mission is planned "to ensure that the activities of the Croatian border guards remain fully compliant with the respect of fundamental rights."

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

But no dates have been fixed, although the Commission says arrangements will be made as soon as the pandemic eases up.

"It would be really good to see what they come back with but it is difficult to have hope," Jelena Sesar, a researcher at Amnesty International told EUobserver.

The NGO had earlier this week documented cases of torture and beatings of migrants from Afghanistan and Pakistan inside the Croat border near Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Around 10 men dressed in black, masked and heavily armed, had allegedly carried out the attacks in late May.

They are also said to have smeared the wounds with mayonnaise and ketchup, in moves similar to earlier reports of attacks where heads were spraypainted as an act of humiliation.

Sesar says there is little doubt the abuse had been carried out by a special unit within the Croat police.

"They are certainly part of the official law enforcement of Croatia and I think we have no doubt that in this case," she said, noting they were carrying weapons not available for purchase by civilians.

One victim said that the attackers were laughing and singing while carrying out the beatings.

An emergency doctor at the medical clinic, who later treated the wounded, said some had suffered collapsed lungs and multiple fractures, among other injuries.

The Croatian government has denied it all and claims the injuries are most likely due to fighting among the migrants themselves, noting a recent clash near a border village in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

But the latest incident fits a pattern of abuse reported over the past few years that have largely escaped any serious official scrutiny.

The European Commission had in the past funded monitoring missions in Croatia to ensure rights were being respected. The UN Refugee Agency, under its own funding, and a local NGO had also carried out monitoring.

"They never had access to the Green border [official border entry points] and they never had access to the places where push backs were actually happening. Both were denied any access to the border," pointed out Sesar.

She also said that most of the some €360,000 of EU funds meant to set up a monitoring mission had been spent by the Croats to equip police and shore up border security.

Any credible monitoring mission by the Commission, noted Sesar, would need to involve public reporting and input from NGOs and Croatia's ombudsperson.

"Failing this, it is difficult to see how the upcoming mission would make a difference," she said.

Left-leaning MEPs in December made similar comments following a visit to the region where they say people were being violently pushed back from Croatia and into Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"Contrary to what the Croatian government and the European Commission say, it is evident that there is no human rights monitoring mechanism," Tineke Strik, a Dutch Green MEP said at the time.

UN agency demands EU stop violence against migrants

The International Organization for Migration, an inter-governmental body related to the UN, is demanding the EU and member states put an end to illegal expulsions of people seeking asylum.

EU watchdog launches probe on Croat border violence

The European Ombudsman is launching a case into the lack of proper oversight by the European Commission when it comes to how fundamental rights of migrants and refugees are allegedly being violated by Croat border police.

Opinion

EU silence on sickening scenes at Croatian border

If the European Commission is seriously committed to its fundamental values, it is time to put words into practice and condemns unlawful returns and violence at its external borders and demands perpetrators of such illegal acts are held to account.

EU demands answers on Croat border attacks against migrants

EU commissioner Ylva Johansson wants to send her officials to Croatia sometime this month to make sure authorities there are complying with fundamental rights following numerous allegations of violence against migrants and asylum seekers attempting to cross into the country.

Investigation

How migrants risk becoming drug addicts along Balkan route

Psychotropic drug abuse is one of the many dangers migrants face along the Balkan route. In overcrowded camps, doctors prescribe tranquilisers to calm people down. And black market circuits and pharmacies selling drugs without prescription contribute to the issue.

Analysis

Election in sight, EU mood music changes on offshoring asylum

Designating a country like Rwanda as 'safe' under EU rules to send an asylum-seeker there requires strict conditions to be met first. But a backdoor clause introduced into EU legislation allows a future commission to strip out those requirements.

Latest News

  1. Kenyan traders react angrily to proposed EU clothes ban
  2. Lawyer suing Frontex takes aim at 'antagonistic' judges
  3. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  4. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  5. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  6. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  7. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  8. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us