There are shocking scenes on the border between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia.
Masked people hit migrants.
A connection to the police is likely.
Zagreb - The dream of a life in the European Union (EU) ends painfully for some migrants.
At the border river Korana, which separates the EU member state Croatia from Bosnia-Herzegovina, they are received by a group of masked men who are supposed to drive them back.
Armed with batons, the black-clad fighters beat people in the direction of Bosnia and away from Croatia - and thus out of the EU.
Pushback in Croatia: Order probably came from Zagreb
The oppressive video recordings, which were published for the first time yesterday, show a so-called pushback, i.e. a pushing back of the migrants. The scenes were
filmed
unrecognized in June 2021 by a research team for
ARD
, which had observed what was happening on the Croatian external border of the EU for nine months. In addition to the exposing film recordings, the team also spoke to numerous witnesses, anonymous sources and the migrants themselves.
According to an anonymous source within the Croatian police, the order for the action comes from Zagreb itself. "You know that it is illegal, but who can say no to an instruction from above," the informant is
quoted
on
tagesschau.de
as saying .
"You (the Croatian government and Interior Minister Davor Božinović;
editor's note
) are the ones who are at the A ****, because we only work according to the instructions of the government."
Brawl at the border: Brussels doesn't know anything
In addition, the police officers deployed could be clearly assigned to "Operation Koridor", reports the research team. The term encompasses operations by the Croatian police at the EU border; in general, the work of the intervention and special police should be coordinated there. In addition, according to
Spiegel
information, Greek special forces
are also said to
have been involved in the pushbacks. “When we find migrants in the forest or elsewhere, they usually lie down on the ground out of fear,” is how an active “Koridor” member describes the procedure. "A policeman then walks past you and hits you on the legs with a baton."
Particularly tragic: "Operation Koridor" receives financial support from Brussels.
Since 2014, around 177 million euros have flowed to Zagreb for “migration management”.
When asked by the
Tagesschau
, the EU stated that it had no knowledge of the misuse of funds as part of the pushbacks.
Should this still be the case, the payments can be stopped and penalties can be imposed.
The EU is already sanctioning Greece
At the end of August,
Der Spiegel
reported that the EU Commission was initially refusing to provide the Greek coast guard with further emergency aid for border protection.
Before any further aid would be disbursed, Greece must put in place an independent control mechanism and seriously investigate reports of pushbacks by migrants, the report said.
In Greece, according to the research, the pushbacks are carried out, among other things, by special units of the Greek coast guard.
They intercept possible asylum seekers and release them in orange life rafts in the Aegean.
Here, too,
Der
Spiegel
relies on video recordings of the pushbacks as well as statements from active and former officers of the Greek coast guard.
Migrants are cursed as terrorists
In addition to the migrants themselves, their property is also the target of the police.
As the source explains, luggage, SIM cards and valid asylum applications are stolen from Bosnia and then burned in landfills.
“They took everything from me: shoes, jacket, money, mobile phone, everything I had.
That was a bad situation, they hit everyone very hard, ”a desperate migrant told the research team.
The journalists caught up with the injured after the attack and treated them with the help of a doctor.
“They said: 'You are terrorists, mujahideen, al-Qaeda, go to your country.
You are not welcome here. '"
Croatian intervention police involved in incident
Although the identity and clothing of the armed men do not reveal any direct evidence of their affiliation, the research team is very sure that the EU borders are protected by officers of the Croatian intervention police. This was shown by the analysis of the film data and numerous consultations with former relatives. This opinion is shared by Željko Cvrtila, who worked for the Ministry of the Interior in Zagreb for 22 years and held the position of Deputy Police Chief there.
"One reason is that I see no motive why someone would penetrate this area and deport migrants and even deal with them," Cvrtila told the
Tagesschau
.
Physical and technological monitoring also only allows this to be concluded.
"It is hard to believe that any other group besides the official police force could exist in this area."
Incident at the Croatian border: investigation initiated
The Croatian Interior Ministry has already reacted to the recordings and ordered an investigation into the incident.
If the armed men are actually Croatian police officers, they will also be held accountable, a spokeswoman told
ARD
.
However, it will take a while until the final clarification.
Until then, the situation on the border between Croatia and Bosnia will probably remain confusing.
