Protestna izjava ob kandidaturi Tatjane Bobnar za mesto ministrice za notranje zadeve // Protest Statement Against Tatjana Bobnar as the Candidate for the Minister of Interior Affairs

[SLO]

Spoštovani,

Robert Golob, predsednik Gibanja Svoboda,

Tanja Fajon, predsednica SD,

Luka Mesec, koordinator Levice,

Tatjana Bobnar, 

Civilna iniciativa Infokolpa, mreža Border Violence Monitoring in podpisane organizacije iz Hrvaške, Avstrije in drugod obsojamo najavljeno kandidaturo Tatjane Bobnar za mesto notranje ministrice. Razlog za spornost kandidature je njeno delovanje, ki se nanaša na usmerjanje delovanja policistov ob meji in izvajanje izgonov na Hrvaško v letih 2018, 2019 in 2020. Spomnimo, da je Slovenija v juniju 2018 začela s prakso množičnih izgonov oseb, ki so v Sloveniji nameravale zaprositi ali pa so zaprosile za mednarodno zaščito. 

Od začetka leta 2018 do konca marca 2022 je Slovenija glede na uradne podatke izvedla 29.865 izročitev na Hrvaško po neformalnem postopku. Bobnar je kot namestnica generalnega direktorja slovenske policije in kasneje kot direktorica policije s sopodpisovanjem notranjih direktiv glede delovanja policije na meji sodelovala v enem najhujših primerov množičnih kršitev temeljnih pravic v moderni zgodovini slovenske države. V času njenega dela na najvišjih mestih so policisti pričeli s prakso sistematičnega zavračanja prošenj za azil in izvajanjem izgonov. Samo v letih 2018 in 2019 je Slovenija izvedla skoraj 16.000 izgonov na Hrvaško, navkljub dokazani resni nevarnosti mučenja in nečloveškega ravnanja z migranti s strani hrvaške policije. 

Bobnar je neposredno soodgovorna za ustvarjanje smrtonosnih razmer na balkanski migracijski poti z zlorabo policije in usmerjanjem policijskih postopkov na način, da ti ne sledijo zakonskim pooblastilom, temveč predstavljajo neposredno kršitev univerzalne pravice do življenja in zaščite pred mučenjem. Obstoj takšnih kršitev je ugotovilo tudi vrhovno sodišče, zato je zaskrbljujoče dejstvo, da bodoča koalicija vloge Bobnar pri zlorabi policije za izvajanje množičnih izgonov ne prepozna. Množične izgone je kot sistemsko kršitev načela nevračanja, prepovedi kolektivnega izgona in onemogočanje dostopa do mednarodne zaščite prepoznalo tako vrhovno sodišče kot tudi resolucija evropskega parlamenta o vladavini prava v Sloveniji. 

Opozarjamo pa tudi na druge težave, ki so rezultat škodljivih preteklih politik. Restriktivna zakonodaja in pomanjkanje ustreznih kadrov sta na področju delovnih migracij ustvarila zmedo, kjer številni tuji državljani mesece čakajo na pridobitev ali obnovitev dovoljenja za delo in možnosti za ureditev bivanja. Opozarjamo tudi na zaskrbljujoče stanje v zvezi z odločanjem glede statusa mednarodne zaščite, kjer odločevalci zavračajo ali pa več let zadržujejo prošnje oseb, ki bežijo iz držav, kot sta Afganistan ali Eritreja. Slovenija je v letu 2021 izdala zgolj 19 pozitivnih odločb glede statusa mednarodne zaščite. 

Slovenija za vodenje notranjega ministrstva potrebuje osebo, ki bo policijo pripeljala nazaj v skupnost in ki bo zmožna razreševati konflikte. Potrebujemo osebo, ki bo znala izvesti reorganizacijo državne uprave tako, da bo ta služila ljudem. Predvsem pa potrebujemo osebo, ki se bo soočila s hudo kršitvijo temeljnih pravic migrantov, ki se v zadnjih letih množično odvija na slovenskih policijskih postajah in bo sposobna izvesti ustrezno preiskavo zlorab uradnih postopkov in poiskati krivce, se za ravnanje opravičiti in predvsem poskrbeti, da se takšne hude kršitve ne bi ponovile. Gotovo pa ne potrebujemo osebe, ki bo opravičevala prakse, s katerimi se določenim skupinam sistematično in brutalno krši človekove pravice.

Zmagovita stranka Gibanje svoboda se je v svojih programskih opredelitvah izrekla tudi za umik žice z meje in bolj humano migracijsko politiko. Vendar kandidatura Bobnar za notranjo ministrico lahko pomeni nadaljevanje politik, ki jih je izvajala pretekla vlada v smeri zlorabe policijskih pooblastil in normalizacije policijskega nasilja na splošni ravni. Bodočega mandatarja opozarjamo, da ograja na meji ni zgolj kozmetična težava, naj njena odstranitev ne bo le populistična gesta.

Če se je v predvolilnih soočenjih obljubljalo “vladanje v koaliciji s civilno družbo”, se nadejamo, da bo vlada upoštevala opozorila civilne družbe ter jo vključila v krojenje migracijske politike, ki bo temeljila na človekovih pravicah in bo skladna z veljavno zakonodajo.

Infokolpa

Border Violence Monitoring Network

Delavska svetovalnica

Društvo Humanitas -  Center za globalno učenje in sodelovanje

Zavod Proja

Are You Syrious? (Zagreb)

Centar za mirovne studije (Zagreb)

Alarm Phone Austria (Gradec)

Zagreb Solidarity City (Zagreb)

Transbalkan Solidarity

Transnational Migrants Coordination

Inštitut za delavske študije 

Izjave podpore:

“Pod vodstvom Tatjane Bobnar je na Hrvaško iz Slovenije bilo vrnjenih več tisoč beguncev. Preko zlorabe sistema neformalnih vračanj so bili izročeni neposredno v roke hrvaške policije, čeprav je ga. Bobnar vedela da bodo ti ljudje žrtve brutalnega izgona izven teritorija EU. Zadnja leta so verižna vračanja iz Slovenije predstavljala tretjino vseh nelegalno pregnanih oseb iz Hrvaške v Bih, to dejstvo na žalost iz Slovenije naredilo eno izmed glavnih kršiteljic človekovih pravic v našem delu Evrope.” - Milena Zajović, predsednica Are You Syrious? in vodja zagovorništva pri Border Violence Monitoring Network

“Potem ko sta že dve sodbi avstrijskega sodišča ugotovili, da je avstrijska policija v letih 2020 in 2021 s sodelovanjem slovenskih policistov pod Bobnarjevo odgovornostjo nezakonito vračala ljudi v Slovenijo in da je zelo verjetno v letih 2020 in 2021 potekalo na stotine nezakonitih verižnih vračanj iz Avstrije prek Slovenije na Hrvaško in v Bosno, so zagovorniki človekovih pravic izredno zaskrbljeni za Slovence, da eno najpomembnejših ministrstev nadzoruje oseba s takšno problematično preteklostjo.” - Petra Leschanz, Alarm Phone Austria

»Podpiramo izjavo Infokolpe, ki obsoja imenovanje Tatjane Bobnar za ministrico za notranje zadeve v Sloveniji, pri čemer opozarjamo na hinavščino in nasilje evropskega mejnega režima. Že leta se grobe kršitve pravice do zaprostive za azil vzdržuje z nezakonitimi vračanji na Balkanu, zaradi česar je tisoče moških, žensk in otrok izpostavljenih naravnim elementom v tako imenovani igri ping-ponga, v kateri se države igrajo z življenjem migrantov. Tatjana Bobnar je protagonistka te igre. Vendar ni edina. Evropske države si danes prizadevajo "očistiti" svojo podobo in se prikazati kot prijazne do beguncev iz Ukrajine. Toda igra odrivanja in kršenja pravic migrantov se nadaljuje tako na Balkanu kot tudi na morju in drugih mejah Evrope. Medtem ko se pridružujemo tovarišem v Sloveniji pri zavrnitvi Tatjane Bobnar na mestu slovenske ministrice za notranje zadeve, trdimo, da je treba rasistični evropski mejni sistem zrušiti z uvedbo brezpogojnega evropskega dovoljenja za bivanje za vse migrante in begunce, ki prispejo ali želijo prispeti Evropo. Smo proti politiki vojne in politični intrumentalizaciji azila!« - Transnational Migrants Coordination

[ENG]

Dear Sir, Dear Madam,

Robert Golob, president of Gibanje Svoboda,

Tanja Fajon, president of SD,

Luka Mesec, coordinator of Levica,

Tatjana Bobnar,

The civil initiative Infokolpa, the Border Violence Monitoring Network and the undersigned organisations condemn the announced candidacy of Tatjana Bobnar for the post of Minister of Interior Affairs. Our primary objections relate to her actions directing the actions of police officers at the border and the implementation of deportations to Croatia in 2018, 2019 and 2020. We recall that in June 2018, Slovenia started the practice of mass deportations of persons and denying them the application for international protection in Slovenia.

From the beginning of 2018 until the end of March 2022, Slovenia has carried out 29,865 extraditions to Croatia under the informal procedure, according to official data. Bobnar as Deputy Director-General of the Slovenian Police and later as Director of the Police participated in one of the worst cases of mass violations of fundamental rights in the modern history of the Slovenian state by co-signing internal directives on police action at the border. During her time at the highest levels, police officers began the practice of systematically rejecting asylum applications and carrying out deportations. In 2018 and 2019 alone, Slovenia carried out almost 16,000 deportations to Croatia, despite the proven serious risk of torture and inhuman treatment of migrants by the Croatian police. Many of these cases have been documented in the two volumes of Black Book of Pushbacks that will be sent to all the presumed coalition parties together with this statement.  

Bobnar is directly complicit in creating a deadly situation on the Balkan migration route by abusing the police and directing police procedures in a way that does not follow legal mandates, but instead constitutes a direct violation of the universal right to life and protection from torture. The existence of such violations has also been established by the Supreme Court, and it is therefore worrying that the future coalition does not recognise the role of Bobnar in the abuse of the police to carry out mass deportations. Mass deportations have been recognised as a systemic violation of the principle of non-refoulment, the prohibition of collective deportation and the denial of access to international protection by both the Supreme Court and the European Parliament Resolution on the rule of law in Slovenia. 

We also draw attention to other problems: restrictive legislation and a lack of adequate staff have created confusion in the field of labour migration, where many foreign nationals and migrant workers wait for months before obtaining or renewing work permits and the possibility to regularize their stay. We also draw attention to the worrying situation regarding decisions on international protection status, where decision-makers are rejecting or holding for years applications from people fleeing countries such as Afghanistan or Eritrea. In 2021, Slovenia issued only 19 positive decisions on international protection status.

Slovenia needs a person to lead the Ministry of the Interior who will bring the police back into the community and who is able to resolve conflicts. We need a person who can reorganise the civil service to serve the people. Above all, we need a person who will be able to confront the serious violations of the fundamental rights of migrants that have been taking place on a massive scale in Slovenian police stations in recent years, and who will be able to carry out a proper investigation into the abuse of official procedures, to find the guilty parties, to apologise for their behaviour and, above all, to ensure that such serious violations do not happen again. We certainly do not need a person who will justify practices that systematically and brutally violate the human rights of certain groups.

Political party Gibanje Svoboda, which has won the last elections, has also declared in its programme the removal of the wire from the border and a more humane migration policy. However, Bobnar's candidacy as Interior Minister may mean a continuation of the policies pursued by the previous government regarding the abuse of police powers and the normalisation of police violence on a general level. We remind the future mandate holder that the border fence is not a cosmetic problem and that its removal should not be a populist gesture.

If the pre-election confrontations promised to "govern in coalition with civil society", we hope that the government will heed the warnings of civil society and involve it in shaping a migration policy based on human rights or at least in line with current legislation.

Infokolpa

Border Violence Monitoring Network

Delavska svetovalnica

Društvo Humanitas -  Center za globalno učenje in sodelovanje

Zavod Proja

Are You Syrious? (Zagreb)

Centar za mirovne studije (Zagreb)

Alarm Phone Austria (Graz)

Zagreb Solidarity City (Zagreb)

Transbalkan Solidarity

Transnational Migrants Coordination

Inštitut za delavske študije

Letters of support:

"Under the leadership of Tatjana Bobnar, thousands of refugees have been returned to Croatia from Slovenia. Through the abuse of the informal return system, they were handed directly into the hands of the Croatian police, even though Bobnar knew that these people would be victims of brutal returns outside EU territory. In recent years, chain returns from Slovenia have accounted for a third of all persons illegally deported from Croatia to BiH. A fact that has unfortunately made Slovenia one of the main human rights violators in our part of Europe." - Milena Zajović, president of Are You Syrious? and head of advocacy at Border Violence Monitoring Network

"After two Austrian court rulings have already found that the Austrian police illegally returned people to Slovenia in 2020 and 2021 with the cooperation of Slovenian police officers under Bobnar's authority, and that it is very likely that hundreds of illegal chain returns from Austria via Slovenia to Croatia and Bosnia took place in 2020 and 2021, human rights defenders are extremely concerned for Slovenians that one of the most important ministries is overseen by a person with such a problematic past." - Petra Leschanz, Alarm Phone Austria

"We support the statement from Infokolpa denouncing the possible appointment of Ms Tatjana Bobnar as Interior Minister of Slovenia. With this support, we point out the hypocrisy and violence of the European border regime. For years, the stark violation of the right to apply for asylum has been sustained by illegal pushbacks across the Balkans, leaving thousands of men, women and children exposed to the elements in what is known as a ping-pong game, where states play with the life of migrants. Ms Tatjana Bobnar has been a protagonist of this game. But she is not the only one. Today European states are trying to 'clean' their image and show themselves as friendly to refugees from Ukraine. But the game of pushbacks and violations of migrants’ rights continues in the Balkans as well as at sea and at the other borders of Europe. While we join our Slovenians comrades in refusing Ms Tatjana Bobnar as the ministry of the Interior in Slovenia, we claim that the racist European border system must be overthrown by imposing a European residence permit without conditions for all migrants and refugees reaching or willing to reach Europe, against the politics of war and the political instrumentalization of asylum." - Transnational Migrants Coordination