Croatian Interior Minister Refutes Allegations Of Forced Expulsion Of Migrants To BiH

Croatian Interior Minister Refutes Allegations of Forced Expulsion of Migrants to BiH

Croatian Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic has strongly denied claims by an international watchdog alleging that the country's police have been using force against migrants and asylum seekers and pushing them back to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).

BELGRADE (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th December, 2018) Croatian Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic has strongly denied claims by an international watchdog alleging that the country's police have been using force against migrants and asylum seekers and pushing them back to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).

Earlier on Tuesday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a report accusing the Croatian police of using force against migrants without giving them a possibility to seek asylum. The report is based on the interviews with 20 people, who claimed that the Croatian police expelled them to BiH without due process after detaining them deep inside the Croatian territory.

"The Croatian police defends the Croatian border, the external EU border, in accordance with the national legislation and the Schengen rules. It has done and will continue to do this professionally. Otherwise, the European Union would not have praised the way it deals with the migration crisis," Bozinovic said, as quoted by the Croatian Radiotelevision broadcaster.

Bozinovic also noted that the claims came from people who tried to enter Croatia illegally but did not manage to do so, and that the Croatian police were trained to defend the border without resorting to force.

After the official closure of the so-called Western Balkans migration route (Greece-Macedonia-Serbia-Croatia) in 2016, refugees now travel to the EU countries through a new Balkan route, increasing pressure on the reception capacities of Bosnia, Albania, and Montenegro with thousands of asylum seekers registered in these countries.