The European Ombudsman opened an inquiry on Tuesday 10 November into the European Commission’s actions in respect of allegations of refoulement and ill-treatment of migrants at the hands of Croatian police at the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Ms O’Reilly accepted a request to that effect from the NGO Amnesty International, which welcomed this decision in a statement.
The EU institution wants to know how the European Commission “seeks to ensure the protection of fundamental rights in respect of border management operations undertaken by the Croatian authorities”, said the statement on its website.
The Ombudsman is therefore responding to complaints made by Amnesty International and other organisations, all of whom have expressed concerns about the way in which the Croatian authorities are managing their borders, and they have “drawn attention to allegations of human rights violations related to ‘refoulement’ of migrants and other border operations”.
In the context of the EU funding that they have received in respect of border management, Croatia should have put in place a monitoring mechanism to ensure that the operations being carried out were fully compliant with fundamental rights and EU law, said the Ombudsman.
The NGOs who have requested this are of the opinion that this mechanism does not exist and that the European Commission has not checked whether Croatia has fulfilled its obligations with regard to the funds they have received. The Commission will have to respond to the Ombudsman’s questions by 31 January 2021. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)