There are currently 153 asylum seekers in Croatia and Interior Minister Ranko Ostojic visited them on Thursday, assuring them that the government was doing everything it could to assist them in their integration.
Speaking about the problem of taking in refugees in European countries, Ostojic expressed hope that the situation and directives for each European Union member state would be clearer after the European Council meeting on June 25.
The government remains resolute that specific criteria need to be defined concerning the acceptance of refugees. Croatia has expressed readiness for solidarity, not only in the operations in the Mediterranean but also with regard to amending the legal framework which until now did not allow someone seeking asylum in another country to be transferred to Croatia, Ostojic said.
As of recently, the Zagreb Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences has been organising Croatian language classes for asylum seekers.
Branko Socanac of the government office for human rights said that Croatia could expect more refugees in light of the latest developments in Syria and other countries in that region.
Since 2004 and the entry into force of the Asylum Act, around 5,000 people have applied for asylum in Croatia and 150 applications have been approved.
Since Croatia joined the EU, there have been fewer asylum seekers and many of them rarely remain in the country but head off to some other EU country where they can find work or where they already have family, a representative of the UNHCR Office in Croatia said.