Although the Allied forces are trying to evacuate thousands of refugees from Kabul under the threat of retaliation from the Islamic State, Croatian police are alleged to be looting and driving dozens of Afghans back to Bosnia for fear of leaving their country. Taliban revenge.
The Guardian collected the testimony of Afghan asylum seekers and obtained an exclusive report from the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), which recorded the alleged complaints by the Croatian police of those trying to reach Europe between August 16 and August 29. Approximately 60 illegal obstructions by Afghan families in Bosnia.
Any counterattack is a violation Declaration of Human Rights, Geneva Convention and EU legislation, because the right to prohibit individuals from applying for asylum is a violation of human rights.
After the Taliban declared control of the government, countries such as the United States, Britain, Italy, and Spain all implemented so-called boycotts. Efforts to get Afghan refugees out of the country safely.
According to the victims, the boycott included brutal and violent behavior, degrading treatment, and theft and destruction of personal belongings. Half of the Afghans who were pushed back were minors, and 16 claimed that Croats would obstruct their asylum applications.
“We were pushed back 12 times at the Croatian border. They stole our money and phone,” said 25-year-old Zihaul al-Haqq from Baghlan in the north. AfghanistanIn 2016, he fled the country with his 22-year-old wife Malika. Afghanistan is now completely under the control of the Taliban, and we have been fleeing for five and a half years. We are too tired. “
Afghans are currently the second most popular people on the Balkan route, which is one of the most dangerous routes to Europe. They passed through Bulgaria, then North Macedonia or Serbia, then Bosnia, Croatia, and Slovenia, from where they could eventually reach Italy or Austria.hundreds of Afghan family blocked at the border Between Croatia and Bosnia, in Bihac and Bosanska Bojna. They live with their children in abandoned buildings without water and electricity. Since the Taliban began conquering rural areas, launching bomb attacks and dozens of summary executions, most people have fled Afghanistan in the past five years.
“The Taliban murdered several of my family members,” said 18-year-old Abbas, who fled Ghazni in 2018. After an attack by the Taliban killed hundreds of civilians“I can’t go back to Afghanistan. I have been trapped here for a few months. A week ago, the Croatian stopped me near Rijeka, beat me and stole my phone, and then pushed me back to Bosnia. .”
Shirk allegations and Violence by the Croatian police is not newFor many years, charities have been condemning these abuses, and in some cases, the European Commission has asked Croatia, a member of the European Union, to clarify. Last April, Guardian Investigation The report stated that the Croatians sexually abused an Afghan woman who was allegedly caught with a knife by a Croatian border police during a search of a group of immigrants and forced her to take off her clothes. The European Commission urged Zagreb to investigate the case and described the incident as a “serious suspected criminal act.”
The Croatian police and the Croatian Ministry of Internal Affairs have denied any wrongdoing, saying that they are “determined to cooperate with the European Union to prevent the uncontrolled major illegal immigration movement we faced in the past from happening again.”
“The experience we gained from the 2015 immigration crisis, when many immigrants introduced themselves as Syrian citizens, believing that this information would provide them with’easier asylum treatment’. This is a lesson we have been considering,” they Added.
At the same time, the European Union is negotiating in Brussels to deal with one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent history. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, As many as 500,000 Afghans may have fled by the end of the yearBecause thousands of people are already in action. Those who recently fled the Taliban will join the thousands of other Afghans who left the country months or years ago, as well as asylum seekers from South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa seeking the Balkan route.
According to the United Nations Office of Immigration (IOM), Afghan asylum seekers in the Balkans will soon outnumber asylum seekers in any other country.However, the information from neighboring countries of Afghanistan and most of Europe is Afghan refugees are not welcomePakistan is building a separation wall along its notorious border with Afghanistan; Turkey has built a 93-mile (150 km) long separation wall on its border with Iran; Greece has just completed the border wall, and Croatia is said to continue to keep them Push back to Bosnia.
The Secretary-General of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Charlotte Slente, said: “It is particularly worrying for Afghans who have fled their country’s desperate situation to deprive them of their right to seek international protection.” “We call on the EU to ensure dignity at the border. The reception, especially the asylum procedure, is not forcing member states at the EU’s external borders to block entry and turn a blind eye to human rights violations.”
According to the Institute of International Politics (ISPI) is an independent think tank that provides resources for government officials. Between 2008 and 2018, EU member states have repatriated approximately 70,000 Afghans.
On Tuesday, the interior ministers of EU member states will discuss a common strategy for Afghan refugees. Brussels has allocated funds for Afghanistan, but it is not clear whether the policy applies to those who decide to leave Afghanistan.
“The asylum system has been under tremendous pressure in recent years,” said Antonio Giustozzi, a visiting professor at King’s College London, who served in the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. “If the number of Afghans increases, European countries’ pressure on the asylum system may become unbearable, and the entire asylum system may be threatened, exposing those who really risk their lives.”
