Uploaded November 2022 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
On 21 November 2022, ECCHR hosted a panel discussion on rights violations against minors on the Balkan route with the support of the Advancing Child Rights Strategic Litigation project (ACRiSL). This panel engaged with policymakers and key actors to address the current situation for children on the move along the Balkan route and the state of child rights at the border.
Speakers:
Gordan Bosanac, Secretary to the Green-Left bloc, Croatian Parliament
Miha Nabergoj, Advisor to the Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Slovenia
Tatjana Ristic, Advocacy specialist, Balkans Migration & Displacement Hub, Save The Children
Aoife Nolan, Co-director of the Human Rights Law Centre, University of Nottingham / Lead, ‘Advancing Child Rights Strategic Litigation Project’.
Moderation:
Delphine Rodrik, legal advisor at ECCHR
Context:
On the occasion of World Children’s Day 2022, we heard the story of a Rohingya child's search for safety and of the violence and rightlessness at Europe’s borders. U.F. was repeatedly pushed back and his asylum claim ignored. He faced beatings by Croatian border officers, had his belongings burnt and his shoes confiscated before the expulsions, which included a chain pushback from Slovenia.
In July, he submitted complaints against Croatia and Slovenia at the UN Child Rights Committee, the first complaints of their kind against these two states. Read here more about the case: https://www.ecchr.eu/fall/pushbacks-un-kinderrechtsausschuss-kroatien-slowenien/
The litigation forms part of the Advancing Child Rights Strategic Litigation project: acrisl.org
ACRiSL comes under the auspices of the Global Campus of Human Rights – Right Livelihood cooperation: rightlivelihood.org/what-we-do/education/partnerships-for-education/global-campus-of-human-rights
Despite widespread rightlessness and violence against minors at borders, there has been comparatively little research on child pushbacks and few legal complaints. Children and adults alike have routinely been subjected to violent pushbacks from Croatia, where the practice forms part of a systematic state policy. Slovenia’s pushbacks were implemented since 2018 through a readmission agreement authorizing hasty expulsions with complete disregard for a person’s protection needs, a child’s identity, or their best interests.
00:00 Introduction
02:40 Case of U.F at UN Child Rights Committe
06:50 Aoife Nolan, ACRiSL
12:47 Tatjana Ristic, Save The Children
21:40 Gordan Bosanac, Green-Left Croatian parliamentary bloc
28:25 Miha Nabergoj, Human Rights Ombudsman, Slovenia.
37:05 Are there Risks of focussing especially on the rights of vulnerable migrants?
39:02 Involvement of Frontex and the European Commission’s proposal to extend its mandate to the Balkan region.
45:04 Whether the Schengen accession of Croatia comes with the introduction of an effective monitoring mechanism and would it take into account the specific situation of children?
48:11 Why the U.F. complaint was litigated before the UN committee on the rights of the child, rather than the European Court of Human Rights. Are there advantages to litigating it there?
53:04 Are the returns under the Croatian/Slovenian readmission agreement operating differently with more access to procedural protections - and is the identification of minors happening as it should?
57:53 What is the impact of existing litigation on pushbacks in Croatia? And what other pressure points or strategies exist?
On 21 November 2022, ECCHR hosted a panel discussion on rights violations against minors on the Balkan route with the support of the Advancing Child Rights Strategic Litigation project (ACRiSL). This panel engaged with policymakers and key actors to address the current situation for children on the move along the Balkan route and the state of child rights at the border.
Speakers:
Gordan Bosanac, Secretary to the Green-Left bloc, Croatian Parliament
Miha Nabergoj, Advisor to the Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Slovenia
Tatjana Ristic, Advocacy specialist, Balkans Migration & Displacement Hub, Save The Children
Aoife Nolan, Co-director of the Human Rights Law Centre, University of Nottingham / Lead, ‘Advancing Child Rights Strategic Litigation Project’.
Moderation:
Delphine Rodrik, legal advisor at ECCHR
Context:
On the occasion of World Children’s Day 2022, we heard the story of a Rohingya child's search for safety and of the violence and rightlessness at Europe’s borders. U.F. was repeatedly pushed back and his asylum claim ignored. He faced beatings by Croatian border officers, had his belongings burnt and his shoes confiscated before the expulsions, which included a chain pushback from Slovenia.
In July, he submitted complaints against Croatia and Slovenia at the UN Child Rights Committee, the first complaints of their kind against these two states. Read here more about the case: https://www.ecchr.eu/fall/pushbacks-un-kinderrechtsausschuss-kroatien-slowenien/
The litigation forms part of the Advancing Child Rights Strategic Litigation project: acrisl.org
ACRiSL comes under the auspices of the Global Campus of Human Rights – Right Livelihood cooperation: rightlivelihood.org/what-we-do/education/partnerships-for-education/global-campus-of-human-rights
Despite widespread rightlessness and violence against minors at borders, there has been comparatively little research on child pushbacks and few legal complaints. Children and adults alike have routinely been subjected to violent pushbacks from Croatia, where the practice forms part of a systematic state policy. Slovenia’s pushbacks were implemented since 2018 through a readmission agreement authorizing hasty expulsions with complete disregard for a person’s protection needs, a child’s identity, or their best interests.
00:00 Introduction
02:40 Case of U.F at UN Child Rights Committe
06:50 Aoife Nolan, ACRiSL
12:47 Tatjana Ristic, Save The Children
21:40 Gordan Bosanac, Green-Left Croatian parliamentary bloc
28:25 Miha Nabergoj, Human Rights Ombudsman, Slovenia.
37:05 Are there Risks of focussing especially on the rights of vulnerable migrants?
39:02 Involvement of Frontex and the European Commission’s proposal to extend its mandate to the Balkan region.
45:04 Whether the Schengen accession of Croatia comes with the introduction of an effective monitoring mechanism and would it take into account the specific situation of children?
48:11 Why the U.F. complaint was litigated before the UN committee on the rights of the child, rather than the European Court of Human Rights. Are there advantages to litigating it there?
53:04 Are the returns under the Croatian/Slovenian readmission agreement operating differently with more access to procedural protections - and is the identification of minors happening as it should?
57:53 What is the impact of existing litigation on pushbacks in Croatia? And what other pressure points or strategies exist?
