In Interviews mit Al Jazeera berichten 17 Flüchtlinge, die unweit der kroatischen Grenze in Bosnien gestrandet sind, dass sie von kroatischen Polizisten geschlagen worden seien. Außerdem seien Wertsachen und Geld gestohlen und ihre Handys zerstört worden, um die Kommunikation und Navigation in Europa zu unterbinden. Die kroatische Polizei bestreitet alle Vorwürfe.
Brutally beaten, mobile phones destroyed, strip-searched and money stolen.
These are some of the experiences refugees and migrants stranded in western Bosnia report as they describe encounters with Croatian police.
The abuse, they say, takes place during attempts to pass through Croatia, an EU member, with most headed for Germany.
Bosnia has emerged as a new route to Western Europe, since the EU tightened its borders. This year, more than 13,000 refugees and migrants have so far arrived in the country, compared with only 755 in 2017.
[…] „They have no mercy,“ said 26-year-old Mohammad from Raqqa, Syria, who said he was beaten all over his body with batons on the two occasions he crossed into the EU. Police also took his money and phone, he said.
„They treat babies and women the same. An officer pressed his boot against a woman’s head [as she was lying on the ground],“ Mohammad said. „Dogs are treated better than us … why are they beating us like this? We don’t want to stay in Croatia; we want to go to Europe.“