CORIC: COUNTING OF CROATIAN CITIZENS LIVING ABROAD UNORGANISED

ZAGREB, March 22 (Hina) - The president of the Croatian World Congress, Simun Sito Coric, warned on Thursday that many Croatian citizens living outside Croatia would not be counted in the upcoming census and protested against what he called a scandalous lack of care and organisation of Croatian state authorities in conducting the census among Croats living outside their homeland. Coric requests that maximum efforts be made to count as many Croats living abroad as possible. In the coming weeks, Croatian citizens living abroad but having permanent residence in Croatia will not receive at their addresses abroad census forms that other countries send to their citizens living abroad, he said. "The Foreign Ministry is formally responsible for conducting the census among us, but it is directing us to Croatian consulates which in many countries are hundreds of kilometres and hours of flight away from our places of residence," Coric said. He also claims there has been a number of reports that even for the small number of contacted citizens, Croatian consulates do not have enough census forms. "This reminds many Croats living in foreign countries of the times when Yugoslav authorities used to reduce their number through murky activities," Coric said, adding he hoped Croatian authorities would make as much effort to count Croats living abroad but having permanent residence in Croatia as they were making to count Croatian citizens currently living in Serbia. The Croatian World Congress also requests and asks Croatian authorities to start contacting by post Croatian citizens living abroad for elections, censuses and the like. It also calls on Croat emigrant associations and institutions and Croats living abroad but with permanent residence in Croatia to find a way to be included in the census. (hina) rml