Violence - necessary ingredient in the course of migration
Author
Anic, Anja
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2022
Abstract
This thesis examines how Croatian and EU migration policies relate to the violence experienced by people on the move, using the crimmigration framework. As a qualitative case study of Croatia, it draws on testimonies and NGO reports (including Border Violence Monitoring Network and Centre for Peace Studies), interviews with professionals and volunteers in Serbia and Bosnia, participant observation, secondary sources, and analysis of legal and policy developments. The analysis identifies three interconnected forms of violence: direct physical violence linked to unlawful pushbacks, with reports of beatings, theft or destruction of belongings, and denial of access to asylum procedures; indirect violence through the criminalization of solidarity, including political pressure on NGOs and a conviction of a volunteer who alerted police to asylum seekers already on Croatian territory; and structural violence at the EU level through border externalization and a politics of exhaustion aimed at slowing or preventing migration. The thesis argues that Croatia’s practices breach multiple human rights obligations, including the absolute prohibition of torture, and that violent pushbacks can be characterized as crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute. Overall, the study shows how the criminalization of migration and those who support migrants distributes responsibility and practices across states along migration routes.
Denne afhandling undersøger, hvordan Kroatiens og EU’s migrationspolitikker relaterer sig til den vold, som mennesker på flugt oplever, ved hjælp af den teoretiske ramme crimmigration. Som et kvalitativt casestudie af Kroatien kombinerer arbejdet vidnesbyrd og rapporter fra NGO’er (bl.a. Border Violence Monitoring Network og Centre for Peace Studies), interviews med professionelle og frivillige i Serbien og Bosnien, deltagerobservation, sekundære kilder samt analyse af juridiske og politiske rammer. Analysen identificerer tre sammenvævede voldsniveauer: direkte fysisk vold i forbindelse med ulovlige pushbacks, hvor personer beretter om slag, tyveri eller destruktion af ejendele og nægtet adgang til asylprocedurer; indirekte vold gennem kriminalisering af solidaritet, herunder politisk pres på NGO’er og en dom mod en frivillig, der havde oplyst politiet om tilstedeværelsen af asylansøgere; samt strukturel vold på EU-niveau gennem grænseeksternalisering og en udmattelsespolitik, der søger at bremse eller forhindre migration. Afhandlingen fremfører, at Kroatiens praksis krænker flere menneskerettigheder, herunder det absolutte torturforbud, og argumenterer for, at voldelige pushbacks kan karakteriseres som forbrydelser mod menneskeheden efter Rom-statutten. Samlet viser studiet, at kriminalisering af migration og dens støtter fordeler ansvar og praksis på tværs af stater langs migrationsruterne.
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