Croatian and Slovenian authorities must urgently come up with effective solutions as hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers who were stranded overnight between the two countriesâ border checkpoints are soon to be joined by thousands more.
An Amnesty International research team on the scene interviewed multiple refugees who described how Croatian police had ushered around 1,800 people on a 12km trudge from Äakovec train station to the border crossing at Trnovec at around 2:30am, after Slovenian authorities had blocked the train from entering Slovenia.
Hundreds of children including babies as young as a month old were among the group, who walked or were carried in the rain. They reached the border crossing around two hours later, only to find it blocked by a fence and Slovenian police. Croatian police promptly erected a temporary fence behind the group, effectively trapping them between the two countries with no shelter or humanitarian assistance.
