Several activists of the Dobrodosli! (Welcome!) civil society group and activists of the RAND initiative held a protest and performance in front of the government building and the Zagreb Cathedral on Tuesday, calling on authorities to put an end to "violence against refugees on Croatia's borders".

“We want to draw attention to what has been happening on the borders and within Croatia for more than three years now,” Lea Horvat of the Welcome initiative said in front of the government building where four activists were carrying banners with pictures of injured migrants after they had reportedly beaten by Croatian police having been caught illegally entering Croatia Croatia on their way towards western Europe.

Horvat said that refugees, as well as other civil society associations, and the public ombudswoman, had all reported on the violence the migrants were subjected to in Croatia.

They cited an UNHCR report saying that 2,500 refugees had been expelled from Croatia, 1,500 of them were denied the opportunity to seek asylum, and 700, including a few hundred children, testified about witnessing violence at the hands of the police.

The activists accused the interior ministry – which had repeatedly dismissed allegations of police violence – of turning a deaf ear to their claims and reports.

Meanwhile, the RAND association, whose acronym stands for Regional Address for Non-violent Action in Croatia, held a performance outside the Zagreb Cathedral calling on Christian institutions to help refugees “integrate into society, rather than beating them”. The performance consisted of a dozen activists standing mute in front of the cathedral for an hour.

Both events were organised to mark the International Day of Non-Violence, observed worldwide on October 2.

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