Push-backs from Croatia to Serbia - summary
In the period between July and December 2019 KlikAktiv’s team conducted in-depth interviews with 52 people who provided first-hand information about a total of 65 refugees being pushed back from Croatia into Serbia. All interviews were done following predefined questions in order to cover all aspects of pushbacks. This is a summary of our findings:
Vulnerability assessment:
● When it comes to vulnerability assessment, almost half of them (26 of them) were unaccompanied minors. None of them was assigned a legal guardian by the competent authorities. Also, Croatian police breached its own national laws (article 126 of the Law on Foreigners) which forbids authorities to deport and return minors to another country if they don't have previous guarantees that the minor will be handed to a family member or competent social facility.
Access to territory and to asylum:
● They had all tried to cross the border at least once before (some of them stated they had tried to cross the border up to 30 times before) and were also pushed back.
● Three of them reported having been victims of a "chained push back" before - from SloveniatoCroatia to Serbia. Most of them tried to enter the EU from Serbia both through Croatia and through Hungary and were pushed by their police.
● They all stated that they were returned by the police officers at the "green border" - with the exception of 15 people who have been caught by the police officers at the Serbian official border crossing point and 4 men who have been caught in the train at the official border crossing point.
● They all stated they suffered physical violence: police officers beat them with their hands, kicked them, and used police batons. Some reported that police officers used electric tasers as well as fired arms.
● They all reported suffering psychological violence by police officers and locals, including threats and insults.
● None of them had access to the asylum procedure or to UNHCR.
Detention:
● When it comes to detention, none of them were detained per se, but almost all of them were kept locked inside a police van for several hours, which is a serious violation of their rights and of legal procedures.
Procedural guarantees and basic rights:
● None of them received any written notice regarding their expulsion from the competent authorities, despite the fact that Articles 112 and 122 of the Croatian Law on Foreigners proclaims that both the Decision on expulsion and the Decision on forced removal have to be made in writing.
● None of them were provided with an interpreter, despite the fact that Article 115 of the Law on Foreigners guarantees that all third-country nationals will have access to interpretation into a language they understand before being removed from Croatia.
● None of them received legal help nor were they informed by the police officer that they have a right to free legal help, despite the fact that the Croatian Law on Foreigners proclaims the right to free legal help for persons illegally residing in the territory of Croatia.
● By denying all 65 people legal help, interpretation, and decisions in writing, the Croatian authorities denied them the right to effective legal remedy and a fair procedure.
● None of them were provided with medical help, despite the fact that they suffered serious injuries, including broken arms, an eye injury, bruising, scarring, bleeding, and an abscess.
You can read individual testimonies in our Report available on the Homepage.
