“Croatia has always denied violent and illegal operations by its own police force to force asylum seekers to leave,” Lighthouse Reports points out.
Croatian police and officials are sharing sensitive information about migrants trying to enter the country through a WhatsApp group, an independent media outlet reported. Lighthouse Reports said it obtained 60 leaked screenshots and was able to identify 33 participants in an encrypted chat group used between August 2019 and February 2020.
“Croatia has always denied any knowledge of violent and illegal operations by its own police to force asylum seekers to leave the EU. We can now reveal that senior Croatian officials were part of a secret WhatsApp group where such activities were shared and encouraged,” Lighthouse Reports points out.
From there they reported that the group was used to exchange information about the arrests in Western Croatia of over 1,300 people, mainly of Afghan, Pakistani and Syrian nationality.
The news alleges that the WhatsApp group, called Corridor II-West, was used by the police to locate and apprehend irregular migrants. Photos of individuals with clearly visible faces were often shared.
“In certain cases, disturbing photos of individuals and sometimes of people forced to lie face down on the ground or of people who were apparently forced to take off their shoes while armed Croatian policemen stood over them were shared,” the news said.
The group was also used to exchange information for journalists visiting the border area.
Croatian officials neither confirm nor deny the existence of the WhatsApp group.
“We cannot know if these messages are authentic. Corridor II-West is not a covert operation. It is an action against migrant smugglers, intensively in the past five years,” stated the Minister of the Interior, Davor Božinović.
He denies allegations of mistreatment of migrants by the police.
The Ministry emphasized in a statement that the group formed on VatsApp does not represent a specific illegal situation.
EU member Croatia joined the visa-free Schengen zone this year and has repeatedly faced accusations of pushing back migrants at its borders.
Source: TRT Balkan
