This Thursday, Croatian newspapers reported that there have been unconfirmed and unofficial reports of plans by their Ministry of the Interior to create another “hotspot” for people on the move within the region of Kordun and Lika, in former military barracks.

The field has been mulched, and a project proposal is underway to secure securitisation-oriented EU funds. The police claim that they would make it possible for asylum seekers to submit an appropriate application after registration.

Locals of both Krnjak and Barilovići protested against the Ministry’s plan and the notion that the area is uninhabited, which media reports show had previously been kept a secret from the public and local authorities.

There has been no move to provide people with a safe, fast, and legal pathway to asylum. Most people on the move depend on the (mis)information of the border (and intervention) police, whom they mostly see as the only faces representing Croatia and the EU. European policies tend to support technical equipment, unreliable securitisation plans and procedures, and questionable police centres rather than new, effective, common policies on migration.

This article first appeared in Are You Syrious?

Image: Croatia — The area of Dugi Dol, Karlovac county, the potential location of MUP’s new centre / Are You Syrious?