According to data presented by Lana Vucinic from the Interior Ministry's foreign citizens department, 11 asylum and four subsidiary protection requests were granted in Q1 compared with 16 asylums and 10 subsidiary protection requests approved in all of 2014.
To date Croatia has granted 79 asylum requests, 69 subsidiary protection requests and three temporary residency requests aimed at connecting families of asylum seekers, Vucinic said.
Although asylum seekers and protected foreigners have the same rights as citizens to work, health care and education, they are constantly faced with problems in trying to exercise these rights.
A very small number have managed to find work because they do not know the language or have a low education or cannot produce documents confirming their qualifications. Often they do not have medical attention because general practitioners won't register them as they don't have Croatian health insurance and so legislation needs to be amended to deal with these problems, she said.