AYS digest 14/11/19: Croatian MEP says “pushbacks are fake news”
By: Caroline Brogden
Tags: Flooding, Croatia, Digest, Refugees, European Parliament

Over the past 2 days, reports from Border Violence Monitoring Network, Human Rights Watch and Are You Syrious were quoted heavily in the European Parliament / Syrian refugees say Greek coast guard opened fire at them, bullet holes found on boat / Vial camp is drowning as people wait for relocation to the mainland Greece / European Court of Justice rules that no asylum seeker should be left in the street, Italy ignores

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Nov 15 · 8 min read

Marks from handcuffs used by the police officers before the person was pushed back from Croatia to Bosnia. Photo: Dean Blažević

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In the heated debate in the European Parliament, Croats claim NGOs “made up stories about pushbacks for their political gain”

After the SAR resolution of the European Parliament miserably failed, the international focus is shifting again towards the situation on the Balkan route. Yesterday, around 50 Members of the Parliament and their staff members attended the event dedicated to situation in Bosnia, namely the Una-Sana canton and the notorious Vučjak camp.

Findings and photographs of the Vučjak camp by volunteers Dean Blažević and Dirk Planert were presented, as well as the latest report on pushbackspublished by the Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN) and the report on Vučjak camp published by the Are You Syrious (AYS).

Representative of the BVMN, Simon Campbell, presented the latest findings of NGOs monitoring violent pushbacks from Croatia. The data were used in the Parliamentary debate today, with the migrant situation in Bosnia high on the Parliament’s agenda.

Injuries sustained during the “fake news” pushback from Croatia to Bosnia. Photo: BVMN

MEPs such as Dietmar Köster, Cornelia Ernst and Romeo Franz have justly warned that situation in Bosnia is a direct result of illegal pushbacks from Croatia, which triggered Croatian MEPs, led by the young Karlo Ressler, to counter-attack.

“Recently we are facing attempts of political pressure because of our commited protection of European borders. There are completely false unconfirmed allegations of inhumane treatment towards the migrants. We should not give up to this pressure because we have the duty towards all EU citizens to protect the longest terrestrial border of the EU”, said Ressler, who is representing Croatia’s ruling party (Christian Democrats) in the European Parliament. “There is no proof for this! No authority found any confirmation of the allegations of the NGOs who are doing this for their own political gain! Show us the proof!”, added his party colleague Tomislav Sokol later in the debate. “There is more than enough proof. I can show you this report, you can read it. It shows exact times and locations of pushbacks”, replied Romeo Franz of the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance , waving our reports in his hand.

Despair in Vučjak camp is a direct result of Croatian violations of human rights. Photo: Thom Davies

While Croatian MEPs, encouraged by the European Comission, are insulting the international community by denying the obvious, BVMN has recently published 600th report of the illegal, collective pushbacks in the Balkans. Last week, Human Rights Watch also presented their latest findings to the Parliament. How much more proof do they need?