After four years of legal battles, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that the Croatian police were responsible for the death of a 6-year-old Afghan girl because they forced her family to return to Serbia via train tracks without giving them the opportunity to seek asylum.
This little girl named Madina Hussiny was hit and killed by a train after being pushed back by Croatian authorities with her family in 2017.
Judges of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg said on Thursday that the Republic of Croatia violated girls’ right to life, detained children in detention centers, treated them in an inhumane manner, illegally deprived the whole family of their freedom, and removed some families. The members collectively expelled from Croatia and ultimately prevented them from contacting their lawyers.
“After four years of painful legal battles, this is a major victory for justice,” said Are You Syrios (AYS), a media and advocacy organization run by volunteers. Peace Research Center, A non-governmental organization that promotes non-violence, has always supported Afghan families. “The verdict will not bring the little girl back, but we hope it can serve as a kind of end to the family.”
Medina and her family crossed the field, over the fence, and broke into Croatia, but that night, like many others, she was stopped by the Croatian police.
According to her family, she was very happy to meet these police officers at first, hoping to be taken to the police station to formally apply for asylum, which is their right under European law. Instead, they were driven to the railway line and ordered to walk back to Serbia.
“I beg:’If you don’t accept us, please let us stay here tonight. In this weather, we are already tired and cold, and the children are still young,” the mother of Medina, Muslima ) Told the Guardian in 2017. “But they are inhumane.”
The Croatian Border Guard initially denied that Medina and her family had entered their country before her death. However, four years later, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the Zagreb authorities rejected her family’s asylum application and therefore blocked the 6-year-old child on the train tracks, thus contributing to her death.
Antonia Pindulić, a legal officer at the Peace Research Center, said: “The European Court of Justice concluded that Croatia, without any legal procedures, and without considering their personal circumstances, will treat their mothers in the middle of the night. And her six children were collectively expelled from Croatian territory,” it intervened as a third party in the case along with AYS and the Border Violence Monitoring Network.
The charity stated that the European Court of Human Rights was the last resort to seek justice after the Croatian institution failed to conduct an effective investigation into the circumstances that led to the death of the 6-year-old girl.
As the key evidence held by the police, the record of the thermal imaging camera mysteriously disappeared.
“We look forward to the prime minister [Andrej] Due to the actions of institutions funded by our citizens of Croatia, Plenković urgently fired those responsible for the deaths of children at our borders,” the Peace Research Center and AYS said in a press conference in front of the Croatian government.
AYS’s Tajana Tadić said: “This sentence is by no means confined to the payment of 40,000 euros (£33,000) to Madina’s family from the national budget of the Republic of Croatia for non-pecuniary damages.” For all the victims on our border, who died there. People, and all activists who have been intimidated and kept silent, it is time to bring to justice those who contributed to and cover up this violence, and must seek accountability at the highest level of the Ministry of the Interior. “
Hundreds of migrants walk on the snowy roads of the Balkan Route every day, trying to reach Central Europe. Most people were intercepted, searched and searched by the Croatian police, allegedly frequently robbed, sexually assaulted and violently pushed back to Bosnia. Over the past few months, thousands of asylum-seekers have been trapped in cold temperatures.
In October last year, major European media released a video showing a masked Croatian police officer beating young asylum seekers with a stick on the country’s border with Bosnia.
On Friday, the Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović stated that he would not resign after the European Court of Human Rights ruled. Bozhinovic said that the death of Medina was a tragic event. “However,” he added, “I ask you not to underestimate the situation the Republic of Croatia is in. There is a group of people and families come to Europe. The Republic of Croatia will either prevent illegal entry into its territory or become a so-called large number of immigrants from other parts of the world. Hot spot.
He said: “As a man and a minister, it is in my interest to avoid answering questions when we talk about the deaths of victims, human victims, and children.” “However, we must follow the policy of acting in accordance with the law and fulfilling national obligations. .”
