The government said the new bill guaranteed maximum protection of immigrants.
A state secretary in the Foreign Ministry, Ivica Buconjic, who presented the new law to deputies, said that one of the novelties in the bill was that foreigners seeking asylum could file an appeal with an asylum commission should the Interior Ministry turn down their asylum request.
The new law envisages the asylum seeker's right to have secondary and not just elementary school education as well as the right to get a job even after a year of waiting to be granted asylum.
After the discussion, deputies supported the new asylum act.