It comes as human rights groups Amnesty International and Lighthouse Reports released new evidence of “systematic unlawful pushbacks and violence” against migrants on the bloc’s borders as EU politicians scramble to bring the migrant crisis under control.
Footage circulated by Lighthouse Reports shows horrific beatings by border guards in Croatia, Greece and Lithuania, the bloc’s frontiers with the rest of the world.
In one video a border guard beats migrants with what appears to be a large baton as they run to avoid being struck.
While another older video shows the moment the Greek coastguard attempt to attack an inflatable migrant boat with a long pole.
Migrants can be heard screaming in desperation for the guards to stop .
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Reporting for RT news, Europe correspondent Charlotte Dubenskij said: “The EU is having to hang its head in shame over the way its border forces are treating migrants just trying to cross into the bloc.
“This is no longer just about ‘fortress Europe’ and the extensive fence building and surveillance systems that are being put in place on its eastern borders.”
She said how instead “more concerning incidents” have emerged from across the bloc which throw the EU into another crisis of its reputation.
It comes as three Croatian border officers have been suspended for violence towards migrants after they were filmed violently pushing back migrants at the border.
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Despite the chaos on the borders, Lithuanian interior minister Agnė Bilotaitė was defiant in her country’s response.
She slammed: “We have taken decisions in our national law that one can only enter Lithuania through a legal way. That is through a border checkpoint or by filing their request with out embassy.”
Dunja Mijato, Council of Europe’s commissioner for human rights said in a tweet that it was “high time” the Council of Europe “investigate effectively, take action and hold each other to account” over the horrific scenes.
The roots of the migrant crisis in Europe stem from the fallout of various conflicts in the Middle East and north Africa as well as economic migrants searching for better lives in Europe.
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