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They told us we would be safe.
A group of six Sudanese, including three adult men (one eighteen and two in their twenties) and three minors, were attempting to cross the border from Bosnia into Croatia through difficult mountain terrain. They had been traveling for three and two nights days from Lipa camp when one of them injured their leg so that they could neither keep moving nor return and were stuck in a remote area in very cold temperatures. Around 13:00 on January 22, they contacted an organization in Croatia to send emergency services to provide medical help.
The border point they were pushed to and forced to cross back
The Croatian aid organization, Solidarity Line Croatia, activated an emergency protocol in an attempt to get medical services to the stranded men. However, medical help never arrived. Instead, twenty minutes after the protocol was activated, they were scouted by a drone and then five minutes after that apprehended by two officers in blue uniforms whom the Sudanese identified as Croatian police. The officers faces were completely covered. When the injured person asked for medical help, he was hit by the police. All six men asked for asylum and explained that three of them were minors and they were initially told they would be taken to the camp in Zagreb. The Croatian police searched all their phones and took pictures of the messages that the Sudanese men had exchanged with the Croatian aid organization.
The officers then ushered them into a van and drove them close to the Bosnian border near Velika Kadusha where they made them get out and flashed their lights and shouted directions at them until they crossed over to the Bosnian side. No Bosnian police were involved.This was their first attempt to cross. Some days later, they tried again with eight people, all Sudanese, and were again picked up by the Croatian police. They again asked for asylum, and were again told they would be safe. They were put into a van with three other people. However, this time they were met by a second van and thrown roughly into the back (the three men who were not in their group stayed in the first van) and driven very fast to the border where they were forced to run back across to Bosnia while the officers flashed their lights and shouted directions.
legal analysis
The men were clearly injured, one of them to the point of not being able to walk, and all were suffering from the cold. Their request for medical help was denied and no care was offered, which amounts to medical neglect in violation of Art. 3 ECHR; Art. 35 EU Charter; Art. 12 ICESCR.
Their request for asylum was denied, violating the 1951 Refugee Convention and Article 18 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. On top of this, their pushback into Bosnia amounts to Refoulement, which is illegal under Art. 33 Refugee Convention; Art. 3 ECHR; Prot.4 Art.4 ECHR; Art.19 EU Charter.Photos of private messages on their phones were taken, which is a violation of their privacy and data protection rights under Art. 8 ECHR; Arts.7–8 EU Charter; General Data Protection Regulation.
overview
6 people ,
from Sudan,
aged Three minors, one 18, two in their 20s.