Uploaded December 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
This is the story of U.F., partially told by himself.
It's 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.
A pushback is not just a single act, as the animation so clearly illustrates. The simplicity of the term obscures a wide range of human rights violations. To prevent people from accessing state protection, officers resort to violence, torture, and secret detention, whilst denying access to legal procedures. Pushbacks are often executed covertly or without any paperwork. They are devised to uproot people from the protection of the law and leave them in a state of rightlessness.
In July, U.F. submitted complaints against Croatia and Slovenia at the UN Child Rights Committee, the first complaints of their kind against these two states. Read more about the cases: https://www.ecchr.eu/en/case/pushbacks-un-child-rights-croatia-slovenia/
The litigation forms part of the Advancing Child Rights Strategic Litigation project which comes under the auspices of the Global Campus of Human Rights – Right Livelihood cooperation: https://rightlivelihood.org/what-we-d...
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.
The animation was created by Neda Ahmadi: nedaahmadi.com/work
It was produced by ECCHR and CRIN: home.crin.org
And supported by Blindspots e.V.: http://www.blindspots.support
It forms part of the the Advancing Child Rights Strategic Litigation project: acrisl.org
This is the story of U.F., partially told by himself.
It's 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.
A pushback is not just a single act, as the animation so clearly illustrates. The simplicity of the term obscures a wide range of human rights violations. To prevent people from accessing state protection, officers resort to violence, torture, and secret detention, whilst denying access to legal procedures. Pushbacks are often executed covertly or without any paperwork. They are devised to uproot people from the protection of the law and leave them in a state of rightlessness.
In July, U.F. submitted complaints against Croatia and Slovenia at the UN Child Rights Committee, the first complaints of their kind against these two states. Read more about the cases: https://www.ecchr.eu/en/case/pushbacks-un-child-rights-croatia-slovenia/
The litigation forms part of the Advancing Child Rights Strategic Litigation project which comes under the auspices of the Global Campus of Human Rights – Right Livelihood cooperation: https://rightlivelihood.org/what-we-d...
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.
The animation was created by Neda Ahmadi: nedaahmadi.com/work
It was produced by ECCHR and CRIN: home.crin.org
And supported by Blindspots e.V.: http://www.blindspots.support
It forms part of the the Advancing Child Rights Strategic Litigation project: acrisl.org
