Refugees Describe Border Police Brutality in the Balkans

“It is every state’s obligation to protect the safety, dignity and human rights and fundamental freedoms of all migrants, regardless of their migratory status, and at all times,” the International Organization for Migration, a UN agency, said in a statement. Ryan Schroeder, an IOM spokesman, said the agency was aware of the allegations but was not in a position to comment on them.

Under international law, as outlined in the Geneva Convention, people fleeing conflict must be granted the chance to apply for asylum.

Often migrants and asylum seekers try to elude border authorities because they do not expect to be granted asylum. Also in choosing to secretly cross borders in the Balkans, refugees may be hoping to seek asylum in richer countries such as Germany, France and Italy. Migrants often pay smugglers to help them across the Balkans.

Simon Murat, a 25-year-old Syrian traveling with Dyab from war-demolished Aleppo, said he too was mistreated by Croatian police. He said police damaged his smartphone and took €700 he had with him.

“Croatia, big problem,” he said in limited English as he helped his 3-year-old daughter, Nurjan, put a broken sandal on her foot. The girl’s mother was killed by a bomb explosion in Syria, he said. He was a pianist in Syria.

The group of Syrians consisted of men, women and children. Many other migrants and refugees were camped in the park and around the train station too.

When he was expelled to Bosnia, Dyab said the Croatian police shouted at him: “'Europe doesn't like you! Go!'”

“I have lost everything,” Dyab said of the war in Syria. “Two trucks. Work. I have lost everything in Syria.” He delivered fruit before the war.

Since leaving Syria in 2013, he has not returned to his wife, 10-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son. It’s too dangerous, he said, and he fears being forced to fight in the Syrian army.

The Croatian Ministry of Interior said in an email that it has not found any evidence of rogue behavior by its police.

“In their interaction with migrants the police respect their fundamental rights and dignity and provide them with access to the system of international protection in case they need it,” the ministry said.

The statement suggested that many migrants are potentially violent. The ministry cited news and official reports from Bosnia that “clearly show that in that area migrants come into conflicts and injure one another.”

It added that Bosnian authorities “have on many occasions found cold steel weapons and firearms suitable for carrying out an attack or inflicting injuries” during raids and inspections of migrant camps.

The Croatian ministry said it has granted international protection to 149 people this year.

Croatia's Office of the Ombudswoman is investigating reports “on police treatment of migrants coming from Bosnia and their access to international protection,” said Ana Tretinjak, a spokeswoman.

But she said her office cannot comment because the cases “are still open and our investigations are ongoing.” By law, the ombudswoman's office is responsible for independently investigating human rights cases.

As European Union nations close their borders, many asylum-seekers are ending up stranded in Bosnia and other Balkan countries on the EU’s borders. The so-called Balkan corridor is a passage to Europe that avoids the often-deadly Mediterranean Sea route.

But that’s not to say the Balkan route does not have its hazards besides police brutality. Data from the International Organization for Migration show 12 migrants have drowned trying to cross rivers in the Balkans and two were killed in a rock slide this year.

Bosnian authorities report that about 11,000 migrants have entered the country so far this year and the majority of them have moved on.

The number of migrants crossing the Balkans has dropped dramatically, according to Frontex, the European border police and coast guard agency. The agency attributed the drop to more border policing.

The agency reported a 92 percent drop in 2017 compared to 2016 in illegal border crossings in the western Balkans — about 19,000 in 2017 compared to more than 260,000 in 2016. The agency reported a 10 percent drop in the first three months of 2018.

Frontex said it was not probing allegations of abuse in the Balkans because it does not carry out investigations in EU member states, said Ton van Lierop, an agency spokesman.

For now the route through the Balkans remains a corridor of hope for refugees and migrants fleeing war-torn and impoverished nations in Asia and Africa.

They are people like Ali Hassan, a 33-year-old from Pakistan. He was camped on a recent evening with fellow Pakistani migrants in the park in front of the Sarajevo train station.

For the past month he’d traveled on foot and by car from his homeland, and his blistered and callused feet were proof of his long march. He was sleeping on the ground.

“No work in Pakistan,” he said about his decision to leave his wife and daughters and seek work in Italy, where he has friends.

Ahead of him, though, was a crossing of Croatia or Hungary – and he was concerned. “Big problem,” he said. “Big problem.”

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