Thousands of refugees are dealing 
with the consequences. Humanitarian 
volunteers and the affected people 
report about illegal practices like 
“Pushbacks”. The Croatian authorities 
catching refugees, who try to cross 
the border and bring them back to 
Bosnia by force. Not only Croatia is 
taking part in these actions, also 
Italy, Austria, Serbia, Hungary and 
Slovenia are executing the so called 
“chain pushbacks”.

International Organizations like IOM 
(International Organization for 
Migration) run a couple of Camps all 
over BiH. In December 2020 IOM 
decided to close one of these camps, 
because of the precarious conditions. 
Lipa was a temporary Camp where 
people stayed in tents and containers 
up in the mountains. After the 
withdrawal of IOM, a fire took place, 
and the inhabitants were left with 
nothing but their belongings.

Furthermore, refugees are exposed to 
multiple forms of violence: from 
Croatian border guards, right-wing 
civil guards and police officers. 
The Croatian authorities deny the 
allegations, but there are numerous, 
well-documented reports of violent 
pushbacks and even lawsuits against 
the Croatian and the Austrian 
executive.