Chechens on the border of BiH and Croatia: 'We are running away from Russian forced mobilization and persecution'

Okupljalište is a cafe in Gradiška, next to the border crossing from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Croatia, in the far north of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

They wait for a short time, and then they hug and kiss, after which the young Chechen headed towards Croatia, in order not to pass on to the European Union.

Others are watching with hope to see if he will be released to Croatia. This morning they did not, and the young Chechen returned to the group disappointed. They are still waiting for someone else to try again.

Some are fleeing Russia from forced mobilization due to the war in Ukraine.

Others are fleeing because of political persecution, religious or health reasons.

Some run away to help their families, but everyone has their own personal tragedy, say Russian citizens, among whom the most are Chechens, whom Radio Free Europe reporters found near the border crossing in Gradiška.

According to them, they gather there every morning in an attempt to cross the border between BiH and Croatia and request asylum in one of the EU countries.

Magomed was the only Chechen who wanted to talk to RSE journalists.

He insisted that we not photograph anyone or blur their faces, for fear of reprisals against them and their families in Russia.

He says that in their group, about 80 percent are Chechens, but they also come from other neighboring Russian republics, such as Ingushetia and Karachayevo-Cherkessia, and there are a few from more distant Tatarstan.

 

According to his calculation, about 170 people from the North of the Caucasus are waiting to cross the border in northwestern BiH, in Gradiška and Novi Grad (west of Gradiška).

 

We are running away from the "persecution of the authorities"

Magomed explains to RFE/RL that everyone is fleeing "from persecution by the authorities", and that they are being persecuted mainly for political and religious reasons – or because of mobilization for the war in Ukraine.

"At the moment, mobilization is being carried out, forced mobilization. People are simply bought, willy-nilly. No one asks you. For various reasons, they buy people and forcibly send them," he says.

And the young Chechen who unsuccessfully tried to cross the border that morning, according to Magomed, was in prison in Chechnya, where he survived beatings and other types of abuse because of his political views.

The young man stood next to Magomed while he was talking about it, but he didn't want to speak himself, except for nodding his head in approval. Magomed also points out that everyone in Gradiška is afraid of possible indictments against them in Russia, and that refugees from the North of the Caucasus "live in fear" everywhere.

He points out that Russia is stopping all processes for obtaining visas, so they are trying to reach the EU through Bosnia and Herzegovina, which still has a valid visa-free regime with Russia.

Of those gathered, he states that some had jobs, but that most were unemployed.

"Even if you have a job, the salary for the effort is minimal. Most people don't go because of the salary," said Magomed.

He points out that healthcare is also in a bad state, and points to one young man among them who is in a wheelchair. As he says, due to a medical error.

The young man in the wheelchair did not want to speak.

 

Magomed tells RFE that everyone who is there is following the case of Selima Khadisova, a Chechen woman who is in custody in Tuzla while waiting for Bosnia and Herzegovina. the authorities will decide whether to extradite her to Russia or grant her asylum, which RSE has already written about.

Khadisova was arrested on the basis of an INTERPOL warrant after she and her three children landed on a plane from Turkey to Sarajevo at the end of September on charges of terrorism by Russia.

Selima denies the charges and is currently in extradition custody, separated from her children, while her request for asylum in BiH is also being decided.

 

'Croatia does not explain anything'

Magomed is one of several dozen Russian citizens who stand by the border every morning from six o'clock, waiting to be called.

After passing the passport control in Bosnia and Herzegovina. foreign, they go to the Croatian side. He passes a dozen of them every day. Sometimes, like on November 8, when the RSE team was with them, they were all returned.

"The border guards don't explain anything to us, so we have to come early. There are a lot of women here with children, five or six children each, without men. They also come here and wait when they can cross, because they don't let them pass. One day they let them in, the next day they stop," says Magomed.

He says that previously they used to let 20-30 people at a time, but lately the number has been limited to ten.

They did not receive an explanation from the Croatian Border Police, nor did RSE, which sent an inquiry to the Croatian Ministry of Internal Affairs.

"Some people have been here for two weeks, or even more, and it took five non-working days. We asked them, they won't talk to us. We are forced to come early in the morning, both those who are near and those who come from afar, they wait their turn and wait to cross," says Magomed.

He emphasizes that none of them stay in Croatia, because people there "look at them with distrust", and that their goals are France, Germany, Belgium, Holland.

 

"In these countries, we know we will have protection," he believes.

 

Good people and high prices in BiH

Magomed points out that in BiH, apart from the prices that are too high for their pockets, they don't have many problems. Neither with the locals, nor with the police.

"According to all our people who are here, in Bosnia, the relationship is excellent, people treat us well. They are pleasant, they smile at us, like in restaurants, in taxis, whoever we meet along the way," Magomed points out.

Some live in hostels, while others rent apartments or houses, he says. However, finances are a problem for them.

"It's hard, especially for women who are here with children. Young guys and grown men still manage somehow. You can't explain to a child and a woman here that they won't be able to eat, that the store is expensive, that we still have to stand here, that the border closed today, that today is some kind of holiday. Every day is a new financial blow to every family in Bosnia," says Magomed.

 

What do the police say?

From the Gradiška Police Department, they state that in the last two months, more and more Russian citizens have started appearing near the border, but that they all have valid passports, that they entered the country legally and that they are allowed to stay.

They point out that the contract between BiH and Russia "allows them a visa-free regime for a period of up to 30 days", after which they can no longer be in the country, and that the police therefore control them more often.

 

In this city in the northwest of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the police explain, foreigners committed several thefts this year, and one was arrested on the basis of an Interpol warrant and handed over to the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

They add that freedom of movement can be limited if it is in the interest of public security - but that Russian citizens in Gradiška "are allowed to move while respecting basic human rights" prescribed by international conventions.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the arrival of residents of Chechnya has been recorded, fleeing, as they said, persecution in their country or being forcibly sent to the battlefield in Ukraine.

Some of them are wanted through Russian warrants, such as Selima Khadisova, and RSE recorded the case of another thirty-five-year-old resident of Grozny (the capital of Chechnya) who has been seeking protection in Bosnia and Herzegovina from political persecution in Russia since October last year.

He is one of at least four people with Russian citizenship who, according to Radio Free Europe (RSE), are in an identical situation and some of whom are seeking protection from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Russian citizens do not need visas to come to Bosnia and Herzegovina, given that Bosnia and Herzegovina still applies a visa-free regime with that country, according to the Agreement from 2013.

Due to the attack on Ukraine, in September 2022, the European Union reintroduced visas for Russians, who have had easier entry into the Union since 2007.

After that, she asked the BiH authorities several times to harmonize the policy with the EU visa policy.

However, the visa-free regime with Russia has not been abolished to this day due to the opposition of representatives of the authorities from Republika Srpska, led by Milorad Dodik, the pro-Russian leader of that BiH entity.