ZAGREB, October 2, 2018 – Several activists of the “Dobrodosli (Welcome!)” civil society group and activists of the RAND initiative held a performance outside Government House and Zagreb Cathedral on Tuesday, calling on authorities to put an end to “violence against refugees on Croatia’s borders”.
“We want to draw attention to what has been happening on the borders and within Croatia for more than three years now,” Lea Horvat of the Welcome initiative said in front of the government building where four activists were carrying banners with pictures of injuries migrants reportedly sustained while trying to pass through Croatia on their way to western Europe.
Horvat said that refugees, as well as other civil society associations and the public ombudswoman, had reported on violence migrants were subjected to.
They cited UNHCR reports as saying that 2,500 refugees had been expelled from Croatia, 1,500 of them were denied the opportunity to seek asylum, and 700, including a few hundred children, testified about violence.
The activists accused the Interior Ministry of turning a deaf ear to their claims and reports.
The RAND association, whose acronym stands for Regional Address for Nonviolent Action in Croatia, held a performance outside Zagreb Cathedral calling on Christian institutions to help refugees “integrate into society rather than beating them”.
A dozen activists stood mute in front of the cathedral for an hour.
These performances were organised on the occasion of the International Day of Non-Violence, observed on 2 October.
