ZAGREB, October 5, 2018 – Council of Europe requested on Friday that Croatia stop collective deportation of and police violence against illegal migrants, something national and foreign NGOs have been warning about for quite some time now.
Associations helping migrants are accusing the government of inhumane treatment of migrants from the Middle East who are attempting to reach wealthier western European countries through Croatia.
Zagreb dismissed those allegations saying that it has one of the best trained police force in Europe which is professionally protecting the Croatian border, which is also the EU external border.
Saying that information received from the NGOs are consistent and founded, CoE Human Rights Commissioner Dunja Mijatović stressed she was more inclined to believe national activists, the UNHCR and the public ombudswoman.
In a letter sent to Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, Mijatović called on the Croatian authorities to urgently open efficient and independent investigations into all recorded cases of collective deportations and allegations of violence against migrants.
