In the Balkans, group of immigrants from Chechnya face deportation threat

Several dozen natives of Chechnya have stuck in Bosnia and Herzegovina due to the refusal of border guards to let them into Croatia. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the natives from Chechnya face the threat of deportation, human rights defenders assert.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 7, human rights defenders informed that in Croatia law enforcers had detained at least 15 natives of Chechnya who had arrived from Russia; and they were subjected to violence, demanding to refuse from asylum requests.

"As far as I know, they have no plans to stay in the country, but they want to go further to Europe to their relatives and friends. There is no large Chechen Diaspora in Croatia," said Isa Daduev, a member of the Assembly of European Chechens.

The group of natives of Chechnya left Russia during the autumn mobilization, the "Kavkaz.Realii"* project reports with reference to the Balkan service of Radio Liberty. According to the project, there are now 30 people at the checkpoint. According to refugees themselves, about a hundred more of their countrymen, citizens of Russia, are in the border town of Velika Kladusha.

Selmo Tsikotich, the Security Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said that the above Chechen refugees had arrived aiming to obtain political asylum in Croatia. According to his version, Croatian border guards do not allow refugees to pass through because of "disagreements" with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Earlier, the "Vayfond" Chechen human rights association, based in Sweden, reported on the problems that the natives of Chechnya had faced in Bosnia and Herzegovina.