More migrant tensions on the Croatian border with Serbia, as Human Rights Watch report asylum seekers being forced back to Serbia, with allegations of violence by officials on January 20, 2017.
Some strong allegations from the internationally respected Human Rights Watch on events at the border between Croatia and Serbia, regarding the treatment of asylum seekers by the Croatian authorities:
"(Budapest) – Croatian police are forcing asylum seekers back to Serbia from inside Croatia, in some cases using violence, without giving them an opportunity to lodge claims for protection, Human Rights Watch said today.
Migrants wait in line to receive free food during a snowfall outside a derelict customs warehouse in Belgrade, Serbia January 9, 2017.
EXPAND Migrants wait in line to receive free food during a snowfall outside a derelict customs warehouse in Belgrade, Serbia January 9, 2017.
Human Rights Watch interviewed 10 people from Afghanistan, including two unaccompanied children, who described being forced back to Serbia since November 2016 after being apprehended in Croatian territory. They said they were denied the right to lodge asylum claims even though they said they wanted to seek asylum. Nine said the officers kicked and punched them, and all said that the officers took personal items, including money or mobile phones.
“Accounts of Croatia’s shocking and abusive treatment of asylum seekers at its border are unworthy of an EU state,” said Lydia Gall, Balkans and Eastern Europe researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Authorities in Zagreb need to make sure that all officials are doing their duty to protect asylum seekers and not violently forcing them back to Serbia.”
