ZAGREB, August 7, 2019 – The group of migrants discovered by Bosnia and Herzegovina police in the area of the northwestern town of Velika Kladuša in the night between Tuesday and Wednesday are victims of brutality by the Croatian border police who caught them as they were trying to illegally cross the border into Croatia, beat them up and returned them forcibly to Bosnia and Herzegovina, local media reported on Wednesday without providing any evidence or official statements for their claims.
Quoting unnamed sources, the Klix web portal claims that the migrants were illegally transferred back to Bosnia and Herzegovina by members of Croatian border police forces, who left after being spotted by the Bosnian border police.
“This is the first concrete case that confirms allegations by Bosnia and Herzegovina officials about the neighbouring country violating Bosnia and Herzegovina’s sovereignty with incursions of its police into the territory under Bosnia and Herzegovina’s control,” the portal reported.
The coordinator for assistance to migrants in Velika Kladuša, Jasmin Čehić, earlier told the Oslobodjenje daily that the migrants were given medical assistance in the local clinic where they had been brought by the border police.
A total of 18 migrants were admitted to the clinic and six of them had serious injuries, mostly bone fractures, while the others had light injuries.
“They said that they had already crossed over to Croatia at an unknown part of the border, when they were discovered by Croatian police who allegedly beat them up, took their money and mobile phones and then transferred them back to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s territory,” Čehić said.
Bosnian border police have not confirmed any of the allegations, saying that they were still gathering information to help establish what exactly had happened with the migrants found near Velika Kladuša.
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