2023-09-30 17:47:35
by Claudio Del Frate
The ten under-19 athletes disappeared in August in Croatia where they were participating in the under-19 world championship. The news was confirmed by the Brussels authorities
The ten members of the Burundi national handball team who last August had disappeared from a hotel in Rijeka, Croatia, where they were participating in the under-19 world championship have reappeared in Belgium. As was logical to expect, the entire group will apply for asylum. The news of the reappearance was confirmed by Belgium’s Secretary of State for Asylum and Immigration Nicole de Moor.
The African team, made up entirely of boys born in 2006, disappeared on August 12th during the world championship event taking place in Croatia. The Burundi under 19s had heavily lost all the matches played up to that point against their peers Sweden, Iran and the United States. They were expected in the last match of the event against Bahrain to avoid being relegated to thirty-second and last place in the rankings. But on the eve of the match the structure that housed the team was found deserted: the boys had disappeared, their cell phones were silent.
From the beginning, an escape aimed at a request not to return to the country of origin had been hypothesized, an escape that would have had as its destination some city in Northern Europe (France was thought of since the boys are French-speaking). The undertaking was facilitated by the fact that since the beginning of 2023 Croatia has joined the Schengen area and therefore no longer has border controls with neighboring EU states.
The Belgian authorities have not provided details on the daring crossing of the continent by the African boys; only that two of them have already formalized their asylum application while the identification procedures are underway for the others. Should they turn out to be adults, according to the rules of the Dublin Treaty the athletes risk having to return to Croatia (country of first entry into the EU) and request humanitarian protection there.
September 30, 2023 (modified September 30, 2023 | 5:47 pm)
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