Asylum Seekers: Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina

Lord Collins of Highbury Excerpts

Wednesday 18th November 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

My Lords, can I return to the issue that the Minister raised in his original response, about an independent assessment of these claims? The UNCHR is backing this. In raising this with the Croatian Government, what sort of response have the Government received and how are we pursuing this matter?

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

My Lords, the noble Lord is absolutely right to talk about the work of the UN special rapporteurs, which followed the arrest of two Croatian police officers this summer. The UN has urged the country to immediately and thoroughly investigate these allegations, and we have been impressing this on the Croatian authorities at every level as well, to reinforce that important point.