As of: February 22, 2024, 3:35 p.m
By: Sarah El Sheimy
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Press
Split
Videos are intended to document the mistreatment of refugees at the Serbian border.
The number of pushbacks in cooperation with the EU is increasing.
Lojane - Within two days, Serbian law enforcement forces forced over 70 people to take off their clothes when the outside temperature was three degrees and leave the country on foot to North Macedonia.
The information comes from the North Macedonian human rights organization “Legis”, which posted it in a thread on the “X” platform, along with a supposed video of evidence.
The video was filmed from a vehicle and shows people walking along the side of a road in the dark, dressed only in their underwear and with their arms wrapped around their upper bodies.
Refugees also beaten and robbed during pushback
The
Guardian
reports on the incident and states that, according to Legis employees, the people are refugees from Syria.
The events of February 10th are therefore about an illegal pushback.
The NGO also reports on “X” that the people were beaten and robbed.
According to his own statements, “Legis” came into contact with people in the North Macedonian border village of Lojane.
The “X” post also points to a close connection with a meeting between the EU and Serbia a few days earlier.
“Further cooperation in the fight against smuggling of migrants, return issues, capacities for accepting asylum seekers and border management” were discussed there.
Serbia has border surveillance agreement with the EU
In principle, both Serbia and North Macedonia, as third countries, already have so-called status agreements with the EU, which also enable the border surveillance agency Frontex to operate on their territory.
The latter has itself been criticized for coordinating illegal pushbacks by refugees, sometimes with the help of state-of-the-art surveillance technologies.
According to its own information, the EU is currently negotiating an expanded agreement with Serbia.
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We can say that it is now a common practice.
Rados Djurovic, Managing Director of the Asylum Protection Center in Serbia
As a candidate country for accession to the EU, Serbia is forced to accept its demands.
In 2022, under pressure from Brussels, the country abolished visa-free entry from countries such as India, Tunisia and Burundi.
Frontex flag on an Italian military ship.
© Kay Nietfeld/dpa
According to the Guardian,
the managing director of the Asylum Protection Center in Serbia, Rados Djurovic, reports
an increase in reported pushbacks from Serbia to North Macedonia.
He even describes it as a “common practice.”
The report from the Belgrade NGO “Klikaktiv” from last year, which confirms the increase in pushbacks on the Serbian southern border, also fits in with this.
Both Serbian and German police officers were involved in the operations.
Human Rights Commissioner: Pushbacks are an “urgent pan-European problem”
Dunja Mijatović, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, tells the
Guardian
about a worrying development in member states.
She calls for the case at the Serbian border to be clarified immediately.
This violates the European Convention on Human Rights.
Illegal pushbacks are an “urgent pan-European problem”.
Human rights organizations such as “Pro Asyl” have long criticized the EU’s approach to border issues.
The criminalization of the entry of refugees is in any case contradictory to the general right to asylum.
With the help of agreements, third countries like Serbia would be used as “bouncers” and rewarded with privileges.
This strengthens authoritarian states in particular.
NGOs criticize criminalization of refugees
There is also criticism that the EU is investing in military operations, for example in the form of coast guards, instead of sea rescue, which is proven not to be a pull factor for refugees.
Other NGOs such as “Borderline Europe” also question the massive criminalization of smugglers.
For example, it leads to these escape boats and vehicles being left prematurely and the refugees having to drive them on their own.
This makes them liable to prosecution and risks years of imprisonment.
(ses)