Researchers from the Center for the Study of Ethnicity, Citizenship and Migration (CEDIM), Centre for Peace Studies (CMS) and individual members of academic community appeal to the Government of the Republic of Croatia and Ministry of Interior (MUP) to recall the decision on closure of border crossings and allow refugees to enter Croatia, as previously done.

Dear activists and citizens in Slovenia, Hungary, Austria, Italy, Greece, Spain, Germany, Serbia, Macedonia and all around Europe, as you know, the refugees wave has reached Croatia. Upon initial proactive and open approach, last night our Government closed down the border with Serbia, due to the decision of the Slovenian government also to close the borders. 

The current unacceptable situation of asylum seekers calls for a robust strategy at EU level in cooperation with Member States, social partners and other stakeholders to immediately address the multiple issues refugees are facing.

Activists of several non-governmental organisations on Saturday staged a rally in Europe Square in downtown Zagreb to protest against the current asylum policy of the European Union accusing the EU of giving a slow and inadequate repose to the ongoing humanitarian crisis caused by a larger influx of migrants fleeing war-hit areas in Asia and northern Africa.

As also highlighted in this morning’s President Juncker’s speech, the migration and refugee crisis is one of the most pressing issues for the EU at the moment. Although the tragedies in the Mediterranean involving people trying to reach the EU in search of protection and a better life have become a recurring horror in the last years, the phenomenon increased tremendously in the last month and involved also countries at the land borders of the EU and the Western Balkan region. EU coordinated human rights-based political responses are urgently needed and some of the points mentioned by President Juncker today represent important steps on which we can build.

The Centre for Peace Studies is a civil society organization dealing with, among other issues, protection of human rights of refugees. We are advocating prevention of further persecution of refugees by their country of origin. INTERPOL’s Red Notices and Diffusions are at the disposal of refugees’ countries of origin, in the same way they are at the disposal of any other Interpol’s member state. These mechanisms can and have been used by refugees’ countries of origin with the view of further persecuting these people for political or any other illicit reason.

Record numbers of migrants died as they tried to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe in 2014. Member States should therefore consider offering more legal possibilities for people in need of international protection to enter the EU, as viable alternatives to risky irregular entry. This is one of the conclusions from this year’s Annual report of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) which looks at developments across the EU in many areas over 2014. 

World Refugee Day was marked in Zagreb on Saturday with a performance symbolically showing dead bodies, with the reading of the names of people who lost their lives in the Mediterranean and whose number has risen to 2,000 since the start of 2015, and with the distribution of information leaflets.

The Centre for Peace Studies (CMS) on Friday called on the government to get actively involved in dealing with the immigration crisis faced by the European Union and to show solidarity with all the people forced to leave their homes.

Centre for Peace Studies on Sunday expressed concern over the safety of migrants in Croatia following a fire accident on Friday in the Bajakovo border crossing detention centre in which one irregular Syrian immigrant died, and the other three sustained severe injuries.