By No Name Kitchen

In the spring of 2020, the pandemic sealed borders and blinded those monitoring human rights violations along the Bosnian-Croatian border. Amid this backdrop, the Croatian authorities seemingly believed they could act with impunity. They were mistaken. NNK’s team activated its local network, connecting with neighbors to identify illegal pushbacks. On May 6th, in Poljana, Bosnia, sources reported a group of people had been forcibly returned, their heads marked with orange crosses. The men had their money, shoes, and mobile phones stolen. The use of spray paint –a religious symbol forced onto these predominantly Muslim men– suggests a disturbing mix of humiliation and psychological warfare. This case marked the beginning of a series of pushbacks involving an alarming level of torture and sadism, disconnected from any genuine border protection or respect for fundamental human rights. Croatian and European authorities have long justified pushbacks, citing bilateral agreements that bypass judicial due process and International Law. Likewise, the use of coercive force has been also legitimized under the guise of maintaining order. However, painting someone’s head with spray paint is neither defensible, legal, nor ethical, as it is robbing people of their phones, shoes, glasses, medicines, and passports and then burning these items in pyres. This is exactly what is happening today. Between October 2023 and August 2024, NNK conducted an extensive field investigation, uncovering evidence of these “burn piles”– secret locations where Croatian border police destroy the personal belongings of people attempting to migrate for a better life. This report compiles the evidence, survivor testimonies, and details the systematic and brutal modus operandi, aiming to push the Croatian administration towards accountability while urging European authorities and civil society to reflect on why would a border agent feel justified in taking a pair of glasses from a teenager fleeing war, leaving him blind in a forest at night, and then tossing those glasses into the flames to convert his hope into ashes? This border regime fails: it punishes the innocent while granting impunity to the undeserving. It is time to react. Time for safe and dignified routes.

Bloody Borders, 2024. 40.p.