{"id":28922,"date":"2017-04-06T13:24:37","date_gmt":"2017-04-06T11:24:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/politics\/at-europes-borders-migrants-and-refugees-are-denied-their-basic-human-rights.html"},"modified":"2017-04-06T13:24:37","modified_gmt":"2017-04-06T11:24:37","slug":"at-europes-borders-migrants-and-refugees-are-denied-their-basic-human-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/en\/politics\/at-europes-borders-migrants-and-refugees-are-denied-their-basic-human-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"At Europe’s borders, migrants and refugees are denied their basic human rights"},"content":{"rendered":"

Migrants and refugees trying to reach Europe are taking enormous risks, including abuse at the hands of smugglers, freezing temperatures in winter and negotiating unknown and dangerous terrain such as forests and fast-flowing rivers. This is an often terrifying situation where robbery, injuries and even death are the price being paid.<\/p>\n

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In March 2016, the shutdown of the Western Balkans route to Europe has left thousands of them stuck in limbo and facing an uncertain future, many in unsafe accommodation. European borders have been militarized with aggressive controls, fences and border patrols, with little consideration for human dignity.<\/p>\n

Yet, every day, people attempt to make the border crossing, driven by the desire to continue their journey to find a better life in Europe, despite a lack of access to asylum procedures and fear of mistreatment in the Balkans countries.<\/p>\n

Rather than being places of safety, those countries have failed to offer protection to many new arrivals. A new NGO report<\/a> reveals that migrants and refugees in Serbia, Macedonia, Croatia, Hungary and Bulgaria are being routinely mistreated by law enforcement officials. Violence and intimidation are used to illegally push them back and deny them access to asylum procedures, even though such actions are strictly prohibited under international human rights law.<\/p>\n

We have collected testimonies alleging systematic abuses and brutal treatment at the hands of police, border guards and other officials, including accounts of people being stripped of their clothes in freezing temperatures and having cold water poured over them, attacks by dogs, beatings and robbery.<\/p>\n

Even when people have decided to try and stay, they are regularly being denied access to processes for claiming asylum and to proper information. In some cases their requests are being entirely ignored.<\/p>\n

Such brutal tactics are deliberately used to forcibly push people back to to their previous country of transit or even another country. Without explanation or a chance to ask for asylum, thousands have already been illegally expelled. <\/p>\n

Authorities are turning them from one country to another outside of the legal system, without their individual cases being heard, without legal assistance or interpreters and without any possibility of appeal.<\/p>\n

Such actions create a climate of fear and mistrust. It makes people more likely than ever to avoid official systems, instead relying on smugglers to continue their journeys towards places elsewhere in Europe that they hope will be safer. <\/p>\n

Governments of Serbia, Macedonia, Croatia, Hungary and Bulgaria must immediately end all illegal pushbacks and collective expulsions. They must urgently investigate crimes committed against migrants, including refugees, and introduce measures to prevent future violations. All governments must ensure that people in need of international protection have access to fair and effective asylum procedures.<\/p>\n