On the 22nd of October 2019, after 3 years of monitoring, Croatia received the approval [[https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/sites/homeaffairs/files/what-we-do/policies/european-agenda-migration/20191022_com-2019-497-communication_en.pdf]] of the EU Commission to enter the Schengen Area. The “promotion” was based on the governmental policies regarding human movement that have been implemented in recent years.
On the one hand, Zagabria has gradually removed border controls in order to facilitate the free movement of EU citizens towards the other member States of the Union, while on the other hand, since it has become the newest stronghold of this fortified Europe, it has reinforced controls over the migrants attempting to cross the country.
So much so, that the report by Border Violence Monitoring Network “Torture and savage, inhumane or degrading treatments on refugees and migrants in Croatia in 2019”, immediately shows how much Bruxelles cares about respecting human rights, that same Bruxelles which has financed this “border management” with 23.2 million euros.
In those same years during which the EU Commission was “thoroughly” monitoring Croatia, the border between Serbia and Croatia and the one between Bosnia and Croatia have taken the place of Orban’s Hungary in the news, and are to this day amongst the places where policies of dissuasion and rejection against migrants appear with the greatest force and systemic violence.
Collective pushbacks, which are forbidden by international conventions, are nevertheless practiced, also against minors and families. They lead to obvious consequences: more migrants die, because they are forced to take the more dangerous routes; and also, informal camps or ones (badly) managed by international agencies are created in neighbouring countries, such as Bosnia, an already fragile country which, under the EU’s pressure, has followed the other countries’ example in strengthening controls and repression in the transit areas, also criminalizing solidarity. Bosnia is definitely not a safe place to push the migrants back to.
And it is exactly in these areas, looking to the whole Balkan area – without forgetting what is happening in the Greek islands – that as Lesvos calling activists we have decided to continue our trips of monitoring and active solidarity.
Since we launched the campaign, we have taken the time to examine the situation and to get in touch with those realities that in these last years have tried to bring concrete support along the Balkan route. We have collected testimonies, advice and suggestions that we can fully understand only through actual experience.
We are leaving once again, with the aim to report, denounce and support the determination of the migrants. But at the same time we believe that, as important as reporting, denouncing and active solidarity are, this still isn’t enough.
To us, it is equally fundamental to create relationships and to, if possible, create political collaborations with the many realities that work in support of the migrants.
We look at Europe, as we believe it is the only possible space in which to create collaborations and intertwine networks that aim at working together towards the freedom of movement for all.
With this in mind, we leave for the Balkan route with two groups.
One, organised by Open Your Border (Padova), will be on the route from the 21st to the 25th of February.
The other group, organised by Bozen Solidale (Bolzano), will be on the route from the 22nd to the 29th of February.
The stories and testimonies the groups will collect are going to be published on Melting Pot.
