The event, to be held under the auspices of President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, will focus on main problems and obstacles in relations between Croatian emigrant communities and the Croatian political and economic sectors, as well as on possibilities and difficulties emigrants and their descendants encounter when making a decision to return to Croatia.
The congress will also discuss the social and economic reasons of the current emigration from the country, notably of young people, and its repercussions for the country's demographic and economic situation.
The purpose of the congress is to offer answers, based on Croatia's experience of major emigration waves, in the late 19th century and between the two world wars, as well as in the 1970s, as to how to prevent emigration and, if it happens, how to care for emigrant communities and make sure they stay in touch with their homeland, said Ivana Rora of the Croatian Heritage Foundation.