[EN] BORDER VIOLENCE MONITORING NETWORK: BALKAN REGION REPORT – JANUARY 2021

 

BALKAN REGION REPORT – JANUARY 2021

MONTHLY REPORT ON PUSHBACKS

In January, the Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN) reported on 21 illegal pushbacks, affecting 684 people in total. This report summarises the latest trends in border policing and provides updates from across the Balkans on violence being perpetrated against people-on-the-move. Specifically, patterns in pushback practice are examined alongside several important court rulings and EU level developments.

As a network comprised of grassroots organisations active in Greece and the Western Balkans, this report was produced via a joint-effort between Are You Syrious, Mobile Info Team, No Name Kitchen, Rigardu, Josoor, Disinfaux Collective, InfoKolpa, Centre for Peace Studies, Re:ports Sarajevo, Mare Liberum, Collective Aid and Fresh Response.

This report analyses among other things:

• Practices at the Romanian border
• Lateral pushbacks to third countries
• Court rulings from Italy, Slovenia and Serbia
• Frontex leaving Hungary
• Geography of Evros/Meriç river pushbacks

The publication also looks in depth at the transit situation in the Balkans, analysing the conditions in camps, urban spaces, detention centres and border areas. When combined, these updates represent a crude and inhumane start to 2021, but one that is consistent with the violent border regimes that have defined recent years.

17/2/2021

https://www.borderviolence.eu/balkan-region-report-january-2021/

[EN] BORDER VIOLENCE MONITORING NETWORK: BALKAN REGION REPORT – DECEMBER 2020

 

BALKAN REGION REPORT – DECEMBER 2020

During December 2020, the Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN) gathered 25 testimonies of pushbacks, impacting a total of 707 people-on-the-move. This rounds off a year of consistent and compelling evidence collected by BVMN, exposing the systematised use of pushbacks at the European Union external border. In this report, updates cover a variety of violations including pushback practices, internal violence and the crisis around winterised shelter.

As a network comprised of grassroots organisations active in Greece and the Western Balkans, this report was produced via a joint-effort between Are You Syrious, Mobile Info Team, No Name Kitchen, Rigardu, Josoor, Disinfaux Collective, InfoKolpa, Centre for Peace Studies, Re:ports Sarajevo, Mare Liberum, Collective Aid and Fresh Response.

This report analyses among other things:

• • Tri-border pushbacks from Bulgaria to Turkey
  • Expulsion of transit groups from Lesvos
  • Fire pits used by the Croatian police
  • The burning of camp Lipa in Bosnia-Herzegovina
  • Legal proceedings against Croatia and Hungary
  • Gateway removals near Idomeni

Read the full report to find out more about these, and further events from the region that occured in December. Other topics include an update from activists working with arrivals in Trieste, analysis of Greek Ministry of Asylum videos, coverage of right wing attacks in Thessaloniki and fires on Samos, and challenging transit conditions for people in Serbia as winter intensifies.

15/1/2021

https://www.borderviolence.eu/balkan-region-report-december-2020/#more-16685

[EN] BORDER VIOLENCE MONITORING NETWORK: BALKAN REGION REPORT – NOVEMBER 2020

BALKAN REGION REPORT – NOVEMBER 2020

The Border Violence Monitoring Network published 29 testimonies of violent pushbacks in November, involving severe levels of physical, psychological and structural abuse. The testimonies collected last month voice the experience of 951 people-on-the-move. This report offers analysis of the trends observed in each of these accounts, showing how law enforcement carry out these violent collective expulsions at EU borders.

As a network comprised of grassroots organisations active in Greece and the Western Balkans, this report was produced via a joint-effort between Are You Syrious, Mobile Info Team, No Name Kitchen, Rigardu, Josoor, Disinfaux Collective, InfoKolpa, Centre for Peace Studies, Re:ports Sarajevo, Mare Liberum, Collective Aid and Fresh Response.

This report analyses among other things:

• The stranding of transit groups on the Evros/Meriç River and Aegean Sea
• A groundbreaking video analysis of a Croatian pushback
• Violent sea and land removals from Italy
• Denial of asylum access for people from LGBTQ+ community
• Detention in Bulgaria and chain pushbacks to Turkey

The report also looks at the transit situation in Greece, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia, as well as reviewing the arrival conditions for people in North East Italy. The onset of winter has come with a spike in squat evictions, and uncertainty about the present accomodation provision across these countries. With police pressure on transit communities and the solidarity groups supporting them, the close of 2020 is being marked with a further erosion of rights in the region.

15/12/2020

https://www.borderviolence.eu/balkan-region-report-november-2020/#more-16536

[EN] BORDER VIOLENCE MONITORING NETWORK: BALKAN REGION REPORT – OCTOBER 2020

BALKAN REGION REPORT – OCTOBER 2020

In October, the Border Violence Monitoring Network published 40 reports of pushbacks and police violence at European Union borders. These cases, which relate the experience of 1003 people-on-the-move, are a testament to the brutal border systems in place at internal and external EU borders. Respondents experienced a range of physical, psychological and structural violence, which is examined in detail in this report.

As a network comprised of grassroots organisations active in Greece and the Western Balkans, this report was produced via a joint-effort between Are You Syrious, Mobile Info Team, No Name Kitchen, Rigardu, Josoor, InfoKolpa, Centre for Peace Studies, Re:ports Sarajevo, Mare Liberum, Collective Aid and Fresh Response.

This report analyses among other things:

• Police violence and incidents of rape at the Croatian border
• Organised pushbacks from inland Greece
• Abuse at Italy’s maritime and land borders
• Ban on outreach in Bosnia-Herzegovina
• Anti-migrant protests in Serbia and Italy
• Pushbacks from Hungary

Read the full report for further updates on the criminalisation of solidarity work in Croatia, forced removals to the South of Serbia, Frontex pushbacks in the Aegean and deaths of people-on-the-move killed on the route last month.

17/11/2020

https://www.borderviolence.eu/balkan-region-report-october-2020/