Croatia is a humane country but it also needs to protect its borders from the influx of migrants, a Croatian lawmaker and an activist of Syrian origin concluded at a Saturday press conference dedicated to migrations.

“Two things are essential to us: protecting our state border and keeping Croatian citizens safe,” said Nizar Shoukry, a Croatian citizen of Syrian descent who has been helping thousands of migrants who passed through the country.

Shoukry is a doctor and a vice-chairman of the Vukovar-Srijem County Assembly. He has been living in Croatia for 35 years and was awarded for his humanitarian work during the migrant crisis in 2015.

Shoukry said that he had contact with migrants on a daily basis and praised the Croatian police for the way they were preventing illegal crossings of migrants from Serbia.

“Migrants are being given hot meals, whereas the police are being given bread and pate, and that has been going on for three years,” he said.

Shoukry said that Croatia was in an unenviable position since the circumstances are a much different now than they were in 2015, “when Croatia was a minor transit country toward the West,” while it is now on the main migrant route.

“Our neighbours, Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, have closed their borders, so Croatia is left as the only country defending its borders with only manpower,” he said, adding that the border with Bosnia is also more than 1,000 kilometres long and that Croatia doesn’t have the manpower to monitor it properly.

He also raised the issue of who the migrants arriving in the country truly are.

“Are they fleeing conflict or are they migrants from countries not struck by war, without documents, and trying to continue on their path toward the West?” he asked.

“Being a Croat who also knows the mentality of those from the East, I propose that we immediately start working on fortification barriers, first along the southern border and then on the east,” Dr. Shoukry proposed.

He said that the southern border should be safeguarded in such a way that it can accommodate the next tourist season. Tourists won’t come to Croatia if they hear that migrants are entering the country unchecked, he explained.

The doctor also criticised the Foreign Ministry for not having a firm stance towards Germany and the European Union, who he said had caused the problem and should now find a solution for “all those unfortunate people who have travelled thousands and thousands of kilometres in pursuit of peace and security.”

Shoukry held the press conference together with the Bridge party political secretary and lawmaker, Nikola Grmoja, who criticised both the Foreign Ministry and President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic for their silence over the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration – an international agreement that covers international migration.

Grmoja said that the Bridge party would like to know why the President changed her mind and decided not to go to a Marrakech conference dedicated to that document. He also criticised Foreign Minister Marija Pejconovic Buric for claiming that the Global Compact was not meant to be signed and kept silent about the fact that it will be adopted.