The children, aged between 2 and 11, are diagnosed with very complicated conditions such as congenital anomalies and malignant diseases, and cannot be treated in Iraq, Health Minister Andrija Hebrang said at a press conference.
Three children will be treated at the Children's Diseases Hospital, three at the Pediatrics Clinic and one at the Sisters of Mercy Hospital.
The treatment of the Iraqi children in Croatia was arranged a few months ago by Croatian Science and Education Minister Dragan Primorac and the Iraqi health minister.
The children were accompanied by their parents and the sister of a child who will undergo bone marrow transplantation.
Hebrang could not give an estimate of treatment costs, but said that they would be covered by the Croatian Health Insurance Institute (HZZO) using funds earmarked for the treatment of foreign nationals. Two million kuna has been allocated for this purpose for this year.
Hebrang added that medical operations to be carried out would be among the most expensive health services in Croatia.
Primorac said that it was very difficult to organise transport for the children to Croatia and that it was made possible by the Iraqi Health Ministry, the US Embassy in Zagreb and Croatian ministries.
Also on the airplane were six Iraqi physicians who will attend training courses in forensic psychiatry and forensic genetics in Zagreb and Split over the next few months.
"Croatia is the first country to provide training for Iraqi physicians to use the DNA method in identifying victims from mass graves," Primorac said, adding that in that way Croatian physicians wanted to convey to their Iraqi colleagues the experience they had gained in the 1991-1995 war in Croatia.