Croatian border guards again “distinguished themselves”: they stripped an Afghan migrant naked and groped her, threatening her with a knife.
The Danish Refugee Council has once again accused the Croatian border police of brutal treatment of migrants.
The Guardian reports this, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
According to the file of the Danish Refugee Council, the incident occurred on the night of February 15 in Croatian territory, a few kilometers from the Bosnian city of Velika Kladusa. An Afghan migrant told aid workers how she tried to cross the border with a group of four people, including two children, but they were stopped by Croatian border guards and one of the fighters pointed a rifle at them. The Afghans asked for asylum. However, according to eyewitnesses, one of the police officers tore up the papers and laughed.
“He insulted us, hit an elderly man who was with us and the children, and told us to empty our pockets and show them our bags,” the woman said. “Then he took me aside and started searching me. I insisted that he not touch me. He asked me why. I answered him because I am a woman and a Muslim, and this is haram. The officer hit me on the head and said: “If you are a Muslim, then why did you come to Croatia, why didn’t you stay in Bosnia with the Muslims?”
Next, the officer removed the woman’s scarf and jacket.
After he took off my jacket, he started touching my breasts and I started crying,” the woman said. – I gave the policeman 50 euros that were in my pocket, hoping that he would stop touching me.
The officer ordered me to take off all my shirts and I refused. He kept touching my chest and behind and I cried a lot. The officer ordered me to stop crying, indicating that he would strangle me if I continued. I got scared and stopped crying.”
A few minutes later a police van arrived and the migrants were ordered to get in, driving for about twenty minutes before being ordered out.
The officer told the woman to strip naked.
“I objected and they hit me hard in the face and repeated the order. I was wearing six T-shirts and three pairs of pants. I took off everything except one shirt and trousers and covered myself with a blanket. An officer came up to me and started touching me on top of the blanket. He felt my clothes and slapped me, telling me that I needed to take everything off, even my underwear.
The officer started rummaging through my clothes and touching me while I was naked. Then he asked me: “I love you, do you love me? Do you want me to take you somewhere to be with me?” I was scared and started crying. He told me to go into the forest and asked if I understood what he meant. I showed him that I didn’t understand, although I understood everything.
The officer then grabbed me by the shoulder and pushed me in the direction of the other officer. They both had flashlights on their foreheads, and I couldn't see very well. The officer who touched me pulled out a knife and put it to my throat. He told me that if I ever said anything to anyone, he would kill me, and if I ever returned to Croatia, I would meet my death in the forest below him.”
After which the policeman, according to the victim, began beating the woman and other members of the group in the faces, head and legs. They were then told to return to Bosnia on foot.
The European Commission said it expects Croatian authorities to thoroughly investigate all allegations and take appropriate action.
“We are in contact with the Croatian authorities, who have committed to investigating allegations of ill-treatment at their external borders, closely monitoring the situation and keeping the commission informed of progress made. The Commission is helping them in this task by funding an independent monitoring mechanism implemented by Croatia, with the participation of various stakeholders such as NGOs and international organizations,” the European Commission said in a statement.
In response, the Croatian Interior Ministry said police were investigating the allegations but that preliminary checks "recorded no contact with illegal migrant women on that day."
“With their humane actions to save the lives of hundreds of migrants, pulling them out of minefields, ravines, saving them from drowning, carrying them for many kilometers through snowstorms, the Croatian police demonstrated not only an organized and professional approach to the protection of the state border of the Republic of Croatia and the external border of the EU, but, above all, determination and humanity,” the Croatian Ministry of Internal Affairs said in a statement. “The persistent portrayal of the Croatian police as a brutal and inhumane group, bent on looting and abusing illegal migrants, has now become commonplace without a single shred of evidence.”
Previously, Croatian border guards were accused of rape male migrant with a stick, in applying on the heads of migrants crosses with paint that was difficult to wash off, in torture that often ended fractures arms and legs.
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