Croatian police will investigate allegations of the burning of migrants' documents and sexual assaults on them linked to Croatian police officers, Croatian Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic confirmed on Monday after a meeting with colleagues from Italy and Slovenia.

Bozinovic acknowledged that although the Croatian police would do their best to investigate the matter, it could be difficult to establish the facts as the people who were allegedly the victims are no longer in Croatia.

What will the two police forces establish?

“The criminal police directorate has contacted the Bosnian police because they have found discarded documents. We have no interest in destroying personal documents, because our goal is to identify people,” explained Bozinovic after a meeting with Slovenian Interior Minister Bostjan Poklukar and Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi. This was the fifth meeting on the topic of illegal migration and joint efforts to combat it.

Last week, The Guardian published new information about violence, sexual assaults and the destruction of documents and phones of illegal migrants, citing reports by the NGO No Name Kitchen.

The Guardian also published photos showing burnt belongings, including documents needed for asylum applications. These are the latest in a series of alleged evidence of brutality at EU borders.

Who is blaming the Croatian police?

The Ministry of Interior immediately denied these allegations and now the minister has confirmed that an investigation is underway.

According to Bozinovic, reports of alleged illegal actions against migrants have been increasing at regular intervals, often coinciding with meetings of EU interior ministers. He pointed out that such reports also occurred more frequently when Croatia was negotiating its accession to the Schengen area.

When asked why the accusations seemed to be directed primarily against the Croatian police and not the Slovenian or Italian armed forces, Bozinovic emphasised that this was not the case. Piantedosi pointed out that similar allegations had also been made against the Italian police, and investigators suspect that in many cases they are being spread by smugglers.

Frontex is coming to Bosnia and Herzegovina

Poklukar added that due to these situations and the state of the smuggling route, it is strategically important that Frontex forces are deployed in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Although the agreement between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Frontex has been finalised, it has not yet been signed.

A memorandum for joint patrols by Croatian, Slovenian and Italian police at Croatia’s external borders has also not yet been signed, but Piantedosi believes that this could be realised in a few weeks.