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HRW calls on EU and Britain: Don't turn the Balkans into a warehouse for migrants

Politiko 2025-05-26 17:18:30

HRW calls on EU and Britain: Don't turn the Balkans into a warehouse for

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on the European Union and the United Kingdom to stop treating the Balkans as a dumping ground for migrants and asylum seekers, warning of serious consequences for human rights and fragile asylum systems in the region.

In an official statement published this Monday, HRW criticized plans to establish return centers outside the EU's borders, describing them as measures that could worsen the situation in countries like Bosnia and Albania, which already face serious challenges in dealing with asylum requests.

Since March, the European Union has paved the way for the creation of centers for migrants outside its territory, through a mechanism that allows member states to send to these centers people who have been refused asylum or who must leave their host countries. In the same vein, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the start of talks to set up similar centers for asylum seekers outside the United Kingdom, with the Balkans in focus.

According to HRW, Albania has already agreed to host return centers for refugees coming from Italy, while the United Kingdom has announced a €6 billion investment package for North Macedonia, interpreted as part of a broader agreement on migration.

"Instead of treating the Balkans as a dumping ground for migrants, the EU and the UK should focus on helping to set up functioning asylum systems," HRW said in a statement, focusing particularly on the alarming situation in Bosnia.

The NGO recalls that in 2023, Bosnia recognized only 4 asylum requests out of 147 applications. The process, although according to the law should last 6 months, in practice drags on for up to a year, causing migrants' rights to be unguaranteed. Adding asylum seekers rejected by large countries to an already overcrowded system would increase the risk of abuses and human rights violations.

Human Rights Watch urges the international community to stop using Balkan countries as "buffer zones" and instead work together to build humane, transparent, and fair policies for migrants and asylum seekers. Albania, Bosnia, North Macedonia, and other countries in the region cannot bear the burden of Western countries' failed migration reforms, HRW concludes.

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