The European Court of Human Rights has once again indicated an interim measure requiring the Republic of Serbia, specifically the Belgrade Border Police Station, to refrain from returning a Kurdish mother and her two children, aged four and six, from Nikola Tesla Airport to Türkiye, where they could face political and ethnic persecution.
This is the second interim measure indicated by the European Court of Human Rights in respect of Serbia in just over a month concerning the conduct of the Belgrade Border Police Station at Nikola Tesla Airport, and the eighth since 2013. This decision points to a systemic practice of denying people in need of international protection access to the territory and the asylum procedure.
The first interim measure addressing the unlawful practices of the Belgrade Border Police Station was indicated in November 2013, when a political refugee from Iran who had survived torture was almost returned to his country of origin. A similar case followed in July 2014, when a Somali journalist who had survived an assassination attempt by Al-Shabaab was on the verge of deportation to Mogadishu. In subsequent years, the Court prevented the forced return of refugees from Iran (2016), a Turkish political activist (2021), Turkish journalist Narin Čapan (2022) and an Iranian family whose father faced life imprisonment (2022). In August 2024, the return of another political activist of Kurdish origin to Türkiye was prevented.
Unfortunately, it is estimated that many foreign nationals in need of international protection face similar treatment each year. These cases often go unreported because refugees in the transit zone lack internet access or have their phones confiscated to prevent them from seeking help. Such practices were particularly prevalent in the treatment of Burundian nationals between 2021 and 2023. Those affected also include a woman from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who was deported in February this year despite stating that she had experienced sexual violence in her country of origin.
The latest interim measure indicated by the European Court of Human Rights confirms the findings of all relevant international bodies that refugees at Nikola Tesla Airport are arbitrarily detained and denied the rights afforded to people deprived of their liberty, as well as access to the territory and the asylum procedure. People are also forcibly placed on flights without access to an interpreter and returned to countries where they face threats to their lives, a risk of torture, arbitrary detention and violations of their right to a fair trial.
The Centre for Research and Social Development IDEAS once again draws attention to the recommendations of the UN Human Rights Committee, the UN Committee against Torture and the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, which have consistently criticised the authorities’ handling of these and similar cases since 2015.
