From the very beginning of the negotiations on accession to the European Union, there was a basic model of the European asylum policy contained in the European directives adopted in the period from 2001 to 2005. In the harmonization process, the Croatian bodies thus had a clear guide for drafting asylum legislation, with a small margin for their own interpretation.
The Republic of Croatia had the option of adopting higher standards than those provided for by the EU acquis on asylum, which in principle was not used, and harmonization was carried out only in relation to the minimum standards guaranteed by the acquis. In most of the articles of the Asylum Act, the provisions from the relevant directives have been transposed verbatim. During its adoption, the legislation on asylum did not cause major controversy in the Croatian Parliament, and the laws were adopted by a large majority of the representatives.
The first requests for asylum were recorded in 1997, and until 2010 the number of asylum seekers ranged between 100 and 200 persons per year. Since 2010, there has been a significant increase in the number of asylum applications (almost 1200 applications in 2012).
The first Law on Asylum in the Republic of Croatia entered into force on July 1, 2004. In order to harmonize with EU legislation, a new Asylum Act was adopted in 2007, which has been amended twice to date through the 2010 and 2013 Amendments to the Asylum Act.
According to the Act on Asylum in the Republic of Croatia, a refugee is a foreigner who is not in the country of his/her citizenship and, due to a well-founded fear of persecution due to his/her race, religion, nationality, belonging to a certain social group or political opinion, cannot or does not want to to be placed under the protection of that country, i.e. it is a stateless person who is outside the country of habitual residence, and who cannot or does not want to return to that country due to well-founded fear. A person who is granted asylum status in the Republic of Croatia is called an asylum seeker.
Apart from asylum, there are two other types of protection in the Republic of Croatia, subsidiary and temporary protection. In the asylum procedure, the approval of subsidiary protection is considered in the second instance, if the foreigner does not meet the conditions for the approval of asylum, it is considered whether he has the conditions for the approval of subsidiary protection. Subsidiary protection will be granted to an alien who does not meet the conditions for granting asylum, and for whom there are justified reasons indicating that, if returned to the country of origin, he will face a real risk of suffering serious injustice and who is unable or, because of such a risk, does not want to put under the protection of that country. Persecution and serious injustice can be carried out by: state bodies, parties or organizations that control the state or an important part of the state territory, non-state entities, if it is proven that the state or parties, i.e. organizations that control an important part of the state territory, including international organizations, are unable or they do not want to provide protection from persecution or serious injustice.
It is also important to note that asylum will not be granted to a foreigner if there are serious reasons based on which it is considered that he committed, encouraged or otherwise participated in the commission of a crime against peace, a war crime or a crime against humanity established by the provisions of international acts, a serious non-political of a criminal offense outside the Republic of Croatia, and before his arrival in the Republic of Croatia, including especially cruel actions even if they were committed with an alleged political goal and acts that are in conflict with the goals and principles of the United Nations.
PROCEDURE: The asylum procedure is an administrative procedure that begins with taking an asylum application. An application for asylum is taken after the foreigner expresses his intention to apply for asylum. A foreigner can express his intention to apply for asylum during border control at the border crossing. If a foreigner is already in the territory of the Republic of Croatia, he can express his intention to apply for asylum at the police administration, i.e. the police station. The request for asylum is submitted in the Reception Center for asylum seekers, orally on the record.
There are currently two Reception Centers for asylum seekers in the Republic of Croatia, in Zagreb and in Kutina. The shelter in Kutina serves primarily for the accommodation of vulnerable groups: persons incapable of business, minors, elderly and infirm persons, seriously ill persons, persons with disabilities, pregnant women, single parents with minor children, persons with mental disorders and victims of human trafficking, as well as victims of torture , rape or other psychological, physical and sexual violence.
After submitting an application for asylum, the Ministry of the Interior will, as soon as possible, hear the asylum seeker. During the hearing, the asylum seeker is obliged to state all the facts and circumstances relevant to his request, to truthfully answer all the questions put to him, and to attach all the available evidence to support his request, i.e. to give credible and convincing explanations of all the reasons on which he bases his request. request. The hearing is the main part of the asylum procedure, which is conducted by the head of the procedure/decision maker, an employee of the Ministry of the Interior, which is the competent authority in the first-instance asylum procedure. After the hearing, the decision-maker considers the facts presented at the hearing as well as the relevant reports of international organizations on the country of origin, after which he makes a decision. An administrative dispute may be initiated against the decision of the Ministry before the administrative court.
There are four administrative courts in the Republic of Croatia with their headquarters in Zagreb, Osijek, Rijeka and Split. The Administrative Court decides with a verdict. Asylum seekers who do not have financial resources have the right to free legal aid in the second instance asylum procedure, before the administrative court. There is a list of lawyers, providers of free legal aid, which asylum seekers choose independently, who prepare the complaint and attend the hearing before the administrative court.
RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF ASYLUM SEEKERS: If the asylum seeker does not understand the language in which the proceedings are conducted, he will be provided with an interpreter for the language he can reasonably be assumed to understand and in which he can communicate. The translator, as well as all other participants in the asylum procedure, may not disclose the information they learn during the asylum procedure, in accordance with data protection regulations.
For an unaccompanied minor who seeks asylum and an unaccompanied minor who is granted protection, the authority responsible for social welfare affairs will appoint a guardian. The asylum procedure for unaccompanied minors is resolved in the shortest possible time.
In the Republic of Croatia, asylum seekers have the right to: stay and freedom of movement in the Republic of Croatia, ensuring appropriate material conditions for living and accommodation, health care, primary and secondary education, free legal aid, humanitarian aid, freedom of religion and religious upbringing of children, and to work. During the duration of the asylum procedure, the asylum seeker has the right to be accommodated in the Reception Center for asylum seekers. The asylum seeker can stay at any address in the Republic of Croatia at his own expense with the prior consent of the Ministry. The asylum seeker acquires the right to work after one year from the date of submission of the asylum application if the asylum procedure has not been completed.
The asylum seeker in the Republic of Croatia is obliged to respect the Constitution, laws and other regulations of the Republic of Croatia, respect the House Rules of the Reception Center, cooperate with the competent state bodies of the Republic of Croatia and act according to their measures and instructions, respond to the invitation of the Ministry and cooperate during the entire asylum procedure, stay in the territory of the Republic of Croatia for the duration of the asylum procedure, etc.
A REAL PERSON WITH STATUS: The status of an asylum seeker, i.e. the status of a foreigner under subsidiary protection, is acquired on the day of delivery of the decision on the approval of asylum or subsidiary protection, when they acquire the right to: stay in the Republic of Croatia, accommodation, work, health care, education, freedom of religion and religious upbringing of children, free legal aid, social care, family reunification, maintenance of family unity and help with integration into society. The Republic of Croatia provides them with accommodation for a maximum of two years from the date of execution of the decision granting asylum, i.e. subsidiary protection. Also, they can work in the Republic of Croatia without a residence and work permit or a certificate of employment registration, and exercise the right to health care in the same range as insured persons of compulsory health insurance in the Republic of Croatia.
The author is from the Croatian Legal Center
The first asylum in the Republic of Croatia was granted at the end of 2006. Today, the Republic of Croatia has 68 approved asylums and 58 approved subsidiary protections. The number of asylum requests is relatively stable: in 2004 there were 162 requests, in 2005 – 186, in 2006 – 94, in 2007 – 195, in 2008 – 155, in 2009 – 146, in 2010 – 290, in 2011 – 807, 2012 - 1193, 2013 – 1089, 2014 (until July) – 271.
The Croatian Legal Center (HPC) is a non-governmental and non-profit association founded in 1994 with the main goal of establishing and promoting the rule of law in the Republic of Croatia.
Our fundamental activity since 2003 in the field of migration and asylum is the provision of free legal assistance to asylum seekers in procedures for the recognition of asylum before the competent state authorities, which HPC provides as an implementation partner of UNHCR. This issue is extremely important because the users of this institute are particularly vulnerable people, because they usually do not understand the Croatian language or know the Croatian legal system, they come to the country seeking protection from various forms of persecution, and at the same time they usually do not have enough funds to pay a lawyer who would represent them and help them during the procedure.
HPC provides free legal assistance in the field, by conducting interviews with asylum seekers in order to collect all the information needed for their representation in the procedure, providing relevant information about the procedure and their rights and obligations to legal counsel, and representing them during hearings in the first-instance procedure. By providing free legal assistance to asylum seekers, HPC has the opportunity to observe the way civil servants work during the asylum procedure and to recognize existing problems in practice.
