Extensive investigations have not revealed any evidence that the Dublin returnees are at risk of being pushed back to Bosnia and Herzegovina or of systematic violence by the Croatian police authorities, the SEM said.
Keystone-SDA
Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) continues to deport asylum-seekers to Croatia. It thus rejects a demand from the Swiss Refugee Council in mid-February, which called for a halt to the returns.
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According to the latest information from the SEM, the problems described at the Croatian border region cannot be linked to deportations to Croatia under Europe’s Dublin asylum procedure. The SEM made this statement on Monday in response to an inquiry from the Keystone-SDA news agency. Returns have been carried out legally and without exception to the capital Zagreb, it said.
Furthermore, there was no connection between the repatriations and the pushbacks at the border mentioned in a press release by the Swiss Refugee Council. These occur when refugees and migrants are forced out of the Schengen area immediately after crossing the border and prevented from applying for asylum.
Extensive investigations have not revealed any evidence that the Dublin returnees are at risk of being pushed back to Bosnia and Herzegovina or of systematic violence by the Croatian police authorities, the SEM said. The misconduct of the Croatian security forces does not indicate a systematic use of violence against migrants, it added.
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Swiss protesters urge end to deportations of asylum-seekers to Croatia
This content was published on
Feb 4, 2023
Several hundred people demonstrated on Saturday in Bern against the return of asylum-seekers to Croatia.
Read more: Swiss protesters urge end to deportations of asylum-seekers to Croatia
The council’s criticisms and demands are based on a new report on the asylum system in Croatia. Employees of the organisation visited Croatian asylum centers in October and spoke with representatives of local non-governmental organizations. They found evidence of systematic incidents of inhumane and degrading treatment of asylum-seekers by the Croatian police.
Translated from German with DeepL/sb
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