Joint CMS and APC Work led to Croatia’s Responsibility in Madina’s Case before ECtHR

After four-years-long proceedings before European Court for Human Rights, the Court concluded that Croatia collectively expelled six years old Afghani child Madina Hussiny, her mother and five other siblings, from Croatian territory to Serbia in the middle of the night and outside of any legal procedure and without considering their individual situation. Concrete pushbacks eventually led to Medina’s death on the same occasion.

Moreover, European Court for Human Rights found that Croatia did not carry out effective investigation on the circumstances that led to the six-year-old girl’s death and thus violated the procedural limb of the right to life of little Madina.

In 2017, a little girl, named Madina Hussiny from Afghanistan, was struck and killed by a train after being illegally pushed back with her family by Croatian police to Serbia, without giving them opportunity to seek asylum in Croatia. Afterwards, the whole case was obstructed by Croatian authorities that was imposing de facto and unlawful pressures not only to Medina’s family but to civil society organizations and lawyers trying to help and seek justice before Croatian and European institutions.

Legal struggle before Croatian institutions and before ECtHR in this case, was done by Croatian Centre for Peace Studies (CMS), their legal department and their attorney at law Ms. Bezbradica Jelavic, while initial legal cross-border cooperation between CMS and Asylum Protection Center, both Balkan Refugee Network (BRN) members, proved to be highly important in terms of collecting decisive legal proofs, testimonies and information, crucial for the further legal steps before Croatian institutions and before ECtHR.

Having in mind that both organizations were legally representing Madina and her family in their respective countries – Croatia and Serbia, CMS’s and Asylum Protection Center’s swift legal coordination and communication significantly contributed to the difficult legal struggle that has resulted with the final positive judgment before ECtHR. In a short period after the accident, APC managed to collect existing proofs, i. e. official reports from the institutions, testimonies and other data and to deliver it to CMS, who used them in proceedings before Croatian authorities and afterwards before ECtHR. Same channel of cross border collaboration served for sharing other proofs on course of time as they were found and collected.

In parallel both organizations were undertaking coordinated media battle in their countries to raise public attention on the same case.

Moreover, strong support of Balkan situated CSOs via their third party interventions, additionally added to the legitimacy of applicant’s claim.

Asylum Protection Center’s third party intervention reported widespread practices of unlawful and violent expulsions of migrants from Croatia to Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Such returns were being conducted outside official border crossings and without any prior notification of the authorities of the country to which the migrants were being returned, and thus in breach of the readmission agreements. The police usually ordered migrants to follow railways or roads, or cross rivers, as a result of which many of them had sustained accidents and died.

Unfortunately, the judgement of the European Court of Human Rights cannot restore the lost child’s life but it is an important turning point for the future behaviour of countries in Europe when it comes to the practice of illegal expulsion of refugees – pushbacks, to neighbouring countries!

Asylum Protection Center and Center for Peace Studies, but also other BRN members – ICS and Legis, continue monitoring Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and N. Macedonian southern and northern borders, reporting plight of hundreds of migrants walking dangerous paths of the Balkan routes daily. Many are stopped by the border polices, searched, robbed, physically assaulted, insulted and violently pushed back, where, thousands of asylum seekers have been stranded in difficult conditions, often staying in the open along the borders.