Europe rights court slams Croatia on Afghan family pushback

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — The European Court of Human Rights has ruled against Croatia in a 2017 migrant pushback case after which a 6-year-old girl was killed by a train on the border with Serbia. The Nov. 2017 death of Madina Hussiny at the time focused international attention on the plight of migrants in the Balkans as they looked for ways to reach Western Europe. The court said Thursday that Croatian police officers had returned Hussiny and her family to Serbia without considering their individual situation, thus performing a collective removal that was in violation of their rights. The girl was hit by the train shortly afterwards. Massimo Morratti, Deputy Director for Europe at Amnesty International, has described the ruling as a “huge victory for justice.”