topic: | Refugees and Asylum |
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located: | Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Hungary, Italy |
editor: | Katarina Panić |
A disturbing video released yesterday reveals violence against migrants in Bosnia.
A group of locals in a village near Bihać brutally attacked two men and heavily beat them with their fists, legs and batons, while filming the attack with their phones. Local media published the video marked by a warning that it contains violence. It shows at least five people torturing two migrants who beg for help.
The police reported that this attack took place after a group of migrants clashed with several locals, including two brothers who were repeatedly charged with violent behaviour and attempts to smuggle migrants. After the attack, one of the brothers organised a group to take revenge, with the message that "those who defend migrants in public," should see this.
"No person registered on the Una-Sana Canton territory, but also in other parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, has been punished so far for violence against migrants. Does this mean that the authorities support the violence against migrants?" Transbalkan Solidarity, a group of activists, stated.
There are several more types of violence towards people on the move these days here in Bosnia. With no proper living conditions in the camps, thousands of people live in the forests during freezing winter, and human trafficking is flourishing. Then there are the covid-19 emergency and a divided political stance of both local and international authorities, which exacerbate their plight.
Neighboring Croatia is one of the several European countries accused of engaging in pushbacks - forcibly moving migrants and asylum seekers of their territory. The activists warn the pushbacks are carried out violently and systematically.
The EU Court of Justice declared Hungary's anti-migrant pushbacks illegal in December. However, the country has since forced almost 5,000 people over the border into Serbia. In January, a court in Rome ruled against the Italian government in the case of a Pakistani citizen who was successively forced back into Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia despite expressing his intention to apply for asylum.
Last Sunday, Pope Francis appealed for unaccompanied migrant minors, notably on the so-called Balkan route. "Sadly, among those who for various reasons are forced to leave their homeland, there are always dozens of children and young people alone, without their family and exposed to many dangers," he said while speaking from the window of the Apostolic Palace.
Image by A Great Reckoning.