ZAGREB, May 17 (Hina) - According to data from the Croatian Interior Ministry and the UNHCR, Croatia has not granted a single request for asylum over the last seven years, a seminar on the asylum system in Croatia and international
aspects of the institution of asylum heard in Zagreb on Monday. A total of 349 applications for asylum have been submitted.
ZAGREB, May 17 (Hina) - According to data from the Croatian Interior
Ministry and the UNHCR, Croatia has not granted a single request for
asylum over the last seven years, a seminar on the asylum system in
Croatia and international aspects of the institution of asylum heard
in Zagreb on Monday. A total of 349 applications for asylum have been
submitted.#L#
UNHCR representative Hans Lushof said that the Croatian asylum law met
a minimum of European standards. He added that no reception or
documentation centre for asylum seekers had been set up yet and that
the law did not sufficiently recognise the role of the UNHCR.
Lushof said he was surprised with the strong resistance to asylum
seekers in Croatia in view of the fact that a large number of Croats
had sought asylum in other countries during the 1990s war.
His claims were rejected by Assistant Interior Minister Zarko Katic,
who said that Croatia would be able to provide assistance to any
foreigners who might need it.
The Interior Ministry expects bids for the construction of a reception
centre for foreigners in Stubicka Slatina, about 30km northwest of
Zagreb, to be invited in July after European Commission officials
examine the project documentation.
Gordana Valeta, head of the Interior Ministry's reception centre for
foreigners, said it was important for bids to be invited soon because
in that case by a deadline of December 31 Croatia would be able to use
800,000 euros from the CARDS programme for the construction of a new
centre for asylum seekers.
Valeta said that only two of the five buildings of the former military
barracks at Stubicka Slatina would be used for the accommodation of
asylum seekers, while the others would be used for religious purposes,
as a library and a playroom for children.
Representatives of the Croatian Legal Centre said they were planning
to organise a group of lawyers to provide asylum seekers with legal
aid and information about the Croatian legal system.
Participants in the seminar concluded that Croatia did not have much
experience with asylum seekers, because the former Yugoslav federation
had not been asylum seekers' destination and Croatia encountered this
problem only about ten years ago. It was said that Croatia should
establish a solid foundation for the development of an asylum system.
The seminar was intended for journalists and was organised by the
Interior Ministry, the UNHCR and the Croatian Journalists'
Association.
Local government officials from Stubicka Slatina, whose residents
staged a protest rally in April against the plan to open a centre for
asylum seekers there, did not respond to the invitation to attend the
seminar, Interior Ministry spokesman Zlatko Mehun said.
The Interior Ministry had stated earlier it was continuing work on the
conversion of the military barracks at Stubicka Slatina into a centre
for asylum seekers, dismissing the objections of local residents as
unfounded.
(Hina) vm