ZAGREB, June 18, 2019 - About fifty Syrian refugees who arrived in Croatia from Turkey through the resettlement programme will be accommodated in Sisak in mid-July, representatives from the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) in Croatia said on Tuesday.

This is the first group of a total of 250 refugees who are currently in the Kutina asylum centre and will be housed in state-owned flats and be given asylum status.

JRS on Tuesday conducted an educational meeting with state administration, city and county representatives, as well as people in education, health, welfare and other institutions, to prepare them for accepting the Syrian refugees.

Ten state-owned flats have already been prepared to accept the refugees and another ten are being prepared for the same purpose, it was said at the meeting.

Activities concerning the acceptance and integration of refugees will be conducted by JRS, while the Interior Ministry will finance the process with European funds.

Croatian language classes will be organised for the refugees and children will be enrolled in school, and once adults have passed re-training courses, they will be put in contact with employers as part of an employment programme.

The resettlement programme is an expression of international solidarity and sharing the responsibility with countries where there are large numbers of people who require international protection, and a tool to manage legal migrations and prevent people smuggling, it was said.

More news about the migrant crisis can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, June 13, 2019 - Interior Minister Davor Božinović on Thursday informed the government that the biggest pressure of illegal migrants had been lately concentrated along 350-kilometre-long sections of Croatia's border with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Presenting a report on the implementation of the strategy on the integral border management in 2018, Božinović said that while in the previous years, a majority of migrants had come to Croatia from Serbia, currently the borderline in Karlovac, Lika nd Sisak counties with northwestern Bosnia was exposed to the heaviest pressure of irregular migrants.

In order to raise the resilience to this pressure, full engagement of the border police is necessary.

In addition, 2,800 law enforcement staffers have been trained for that purpose.

Furthermore, 60 police off-road vehicles have been obtained plus 65 hand-held thermal imaging devices and 100 hand-held cameras.

He said that all the entry points at the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina were designed in accordance with the Schengen rules and agreements with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

A total of 19 cameras are installed along the border, 12 at the border with Serbia and seven with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

More news about the migrant crisis in the region can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, June 11, 2019 - Interior Minister Davor Božinović said on Tuesday that the placement of barriers at the Maljevac border crossing with Bosnia and Herzegovina was envisaged in the Schengen Catalogue, and that the Croatian police were strengthening their human and technical capacities to combat illegal migration as effectively as possible.

The Schengen acquis recommends that border crossings be separated by a barrier, Božinović told reporters.

Asked why barriers were placed at Maljevac, he said they would be placed at other border crossings as well.

A large group of migrants who wanted to illegally enter Croatia had gathered at Maljevac a while ago, he added. "We kept strong police forces there for several days and barriers would certainly help us, in the event that something similar happened again, to cut the costs of our own resources."

The minister dismissed the interpretation that the barriers were a sign that the Croatian police lacked staff, saying Croatia has one of the largest and best-equipped border police forces in the EU.

"We use our capacities depending on the situation on the ground. We have enough forces and reservists, and we'll also have reserve police who can be engaged, if necessary, for the tourist season and for other areas, including the border," said Božinović.

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ZAGREB, June 7, 2019 - The local community has a key role in integrating refugees, according to an international conference organised on Friday by civil society organisations on the occasion of the start of REFUGEE weeks which will see several events during June to inform citizens about the new members in their society.

Croatia is included in the relocation and resettlement programme for refugees from Turkey and Greece and, in addition to providing accommodation, it is necessary to actively include them in society, heard the conference organised by the Coordination for Integration.

Dragana Knezić of the Stress and Trauma Rehabilitation Centre said that citizens and the community show empathy and solidarity with refugees if they are informed on time and are included in decision-making.

So far 793 aliens have been approved international protection in Croatia and another 500 have applied for asylum.

Mirna Varga of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) noted that at the end of May, 50 Syrian citizens arrived in Croatia from Turkey as part of the resettlement programme and they are currently accommodated in the Kutina migrant centre and will be housed in apartments in Sisak and Karlovac.

The government is expected to adopt a plan to relocate those people who have been granted international protection in an effort to decentralise their accommodation. Most of them are now located in Zagreb.

"There are refugees also in Rijeka and Zadar. Our objective is that they are not all in Zagreb but for all of Croatia to profit from their knowledge and skills. By the end of the year, another 50 people will certainly arrive, which will meet our quota for 2018 of 100 Syrian refugees from Turkey. A new quota of 150 people has been approved for 2019 but no one knows when these people might arrive in Croatia," Varga said.

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ZAGREB, June 4,, 2019 - A 31-year-old Serb national who was smuggling 33 migrants on early Tuesday morning crashed into a police roadblock and was hospitalised for serious injuries, while the passengers in the vehicle were not injured, Zagreb police reported.

A little after midnight between Monday and Tuesday the police began to follow a Citroen Jumper van suspecting that it might be transporting illegal migrants. When the police sounded their sirens, the driver of the van sped up, attempted to get away and to run the police vehicle off the road.

The police blockade was set up at the toll gates at Lučko, however, the driver tried to smash through the roadblock and the van crashed into two police vehicles and was stopped.

The police found 33 persons in the van, believed to be illegal migrants who were not injured in the crash. They will be questioned by police to determine their identity and their status while in Croatia.

The van driver was taken to hospital after being seriously injured in the crash. He will be charged with illegal entry, movement and residing in Croatia or any other EU member state or Schengen Area country.

Also, two police cars were damaged in the incident.

Last year the police arrested 620 people traffickers while preliminary figures for this year indicate that by June 1, 344 smugglers were arrested.

More news about the migrant crisis can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, June 1, 2019 - About 30 people have been injured in a fire which broke out on Saturday morning in the migrant reception centre for illegal migrants in Velika Kladuša, north-western Bosnia and Herzegovina, Una-Sana Canton police spokesman Ale Siljdedić said.

The fire broke out in a former factory which was repurposed last year for the temporary accommodation of migrants.

"It's too early to say what caused the fire," Siljdedić said, adding that at least 29 people who were in the centre were taken to hospitals in Velika Kladuša and Bihać.

Witnesses said they saw migrants jumping out of windows in a panic. Local media released video footage of the former factory encircled by thick smoke.

More than 6,000 illegal migrants have entered BiH this year and most of those who arrive in the country in an attempt to reach Croatia seek temporary accommodation in Velika Kladuša and Bihac. Local authorities have been warning for months that they can no longer handle the migrant flow and seek greater assistance from the state authorities and the international community.

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ZAGREB, May 31, 2019 - Fifty Syrian refugees have arrived in Croatia from Turkey as part of the European refugee relocation programme, the Ministry of the Interior said in a statement on Thursday, explaining that this was the sixth group of refugees to be relocated to Croatia so far on the basis of quotas set by the government.

The last group of refugees arrived in Croatia on May 29-30. So far, 202 Syrian refugees have been relocated to Croatia from Turkey.

Another 51 Syrian refugees are expected to arrive in July and August, when Croatia will have met quotas defined by government decisions of 2015 and 2017, taking in a total of 253 refugees.

As was the case with previous arrivals of refugees, the last group of Syrian refugee families underwent cultural orientation in Turkey and will immediately begin with the process of social integration in Croatia, the ministry said, adding that refugees would initially be provided with accommodation at the centre for seekers of international protection in Kutina.

The ministry recalls in its statement that relocation is an expression of international solidarity and sharing of responsibility with the countries where a large number of people seeking international protection have arrived or have been staying, and that it is a tool for the management of migrations, reduction of illegal migrations and prevention of people smuggling to which refugees are frequently exposed.

More news about migrant crisis can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, May 20, 2019 - Since 2015 the EU has not managed to find an adequate response to the arrival of a growing number of migrants, except for closing borders and growing repression on borders, while the asylum system is waiting for an overhaul even though some member states have made it clear that they will not accept changes that entail distribution of migrants among EU countries, it was said at a round table discussion on migrations in Zagreb on Monday.

The discussion, organised by the Centre for Peace Studies (CMS) nongovernmental organisation, was attended by representatives of Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the European Council on Refugees and Exiles, who spoke about the current situation regarding migrations and expectations in relation to decision-makers at the local and the EU level.

CMS representatives said they expected Croatian members of the European Parliament to demand that Croatia put an end to violence and unlawful activities on borders. They also called for "thoroughly investigating" what they described as unlawful and forcible deportations of refugees across Croatia's borders and the punishment of those responsible for them.

CMS activists said they wanted an end to be put to abuse and partial interpretations of Croatian and European laws to justify violation of migrants' human rights.

"A comprehensive migration and integration policy based on analyses of the situation needs to be adopted. Adequate funding needs to be expended both at the national and EU levels to support a two-way integration process, which includes cooperation between all stakeholders - the local community, civil society, citizens and the private sector," said Julija Kranjec of the CMS.

She added that the CMS expected Croatian MEPs to see it to that the EU "ensures safe and legal routes for persons seeking security in the EU and to ensure a functional asylum system."

The CMS expects the EU to support countries along the so-called Balkan route (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Macedonia), restrict the powers of the European border and coast guard agency Frontex and the establishment of 'an independent mechanism to control conduct on borders'.

More news about the migrant crisis can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, May 17, 2019 - Interior Minister Davor Božinović said on Thursday Croatia did not and would not let in illegal migrants, and that the police were complying with the law in handling migrants.

He was commenting on a Swiss Radio Television report the day before which showed Croatian police allegedly using force to return illegal migrants to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Over two days in late April, Swiss reporters allegedly documented, from concealed positions, four pushbacks in which 70 migrants, mainly from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Algeria, were transferred against their will to BiH.

Responding to the footage, Croatia's Interior Ministry said it showed "official action in line with the Schengen code, aimed at preventing illegal entry into the EU."

Speaking to reporters, Božinović said the TV report "was conceived so as to show that Croatian police use violence, and it's not the first time." He said the footage showed "everything but violence," and called it "another futile attempt to accuse the Croatian police which, I repeat, are enforcing national and European legislation."

For some time now, the Croatian police are faced with accusations of unlawfully returning migrants to BiH, instead of giving them a chance to apply for asylum in Croatia, and of beating them and stealing their property. The Interior Ministry has rejected the accusations, saying it "discourages" migrants from attempting to illegally enter the country.

Božinović said Croatia, as a sovereign country, did not and would not allow illegal entry. He said parts of the border regions, notably in Sisak-Moslavina County, were believed to contain leftover mines and that migrants risked being killed. "Croatia is enforcing the Schengen legislation by enabling people to seek asylum," he said, adding that 80% of those who applied for asylum left before their applications were processed.

"After being identified by the authorities of Austria, Germany or any other EU member state, they are returned to Croatia. They don't want to stay in Croatia but go to third countries which don't want to receive them and return them to Croatia, which should care for those who don't want to stay in Croatia."

"This return of secondary migrants to Croatia and the fact that Croatia keeps detailed records of all such asylum seekers, notably in the last 18 months, discourages them from seeking asylum in Croatia because they know they will be returned sooner or later," he said.

This year through May 1, there were 4,309 illegal attempts to enter Croatia and the police arrested and tried 251 perpetrators for people smuggling.

Božinović said that in every county there were enough police to deal with migrants, reiterating that migrations were not a local issue. "Migrations are managed at national level, from the national task force formed within the Police Directorate," he said, adding that "we can respond to any challenge."

Police Director Nikola Milina, too, said the Croatian police acted in line with the law when dealing with migrants. "Last year alone there were more than 1,000 asylum applications. It's not true at all that people are being prevented from seeking asylum."

He said the police were first and foremost focused on preventing people smuggling, and that they were also saving lives. He urged NGOs not to encourage migrants to expose themselves to danger, notably in potential mine fields.

More news about the migrant crisis can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, May 16, 2019 - A Swiss broadcaster on Wednesday showed footage of Croatian police pushing back migrants to neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina and migrants saying that police had seized their mobile phones and money.

Croatian police have been faced for some time with accusations that they unlawfully return migrants who reach Croatia's territory to Bosnia and Herzegovina instead of giving them the opportunity to seek asylum in Croatia. The accusations also include allegations of physical abuse and theft.

The Croatian Foreign Ministry has dismissed the allegations.

In its political programme "Rundschau", the SRF broadcaster showed footage of police bringing a group of migrants in a van to a border crossing and sending them back to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Reporters secretly filmed the push-back operations for two days. In those operations, 70 migrants, mostly from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Algeria were sent back to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The migrants told reporters that Croatian police had destroyed their mobile phones and taken their money and that they had used force against them.

A migrant said that when asked if they could seek asylum in Croatia, a police officer told them that they would get "Bosnian asylum".

The location where Croatian police were filmed while pushing back migrants in late April is said to be near the village of Gradine.

The Croatian Ministry of the Interior said in response to the SRF programme that the footage showed "an official operation that is in line with the Schengen Borders Code and is designed to prevent illegal entries into the EU."

However, German migration expert Marcus Engler says that this is a clear case of violation of European and international law because group expulsions are not allowed without a prior procedure. Engler says that Croatia is not the only one to blame for such practice and that the entire EU is responsible.

Croatian border police are financed with European money. Other countries support such conduct because they profit from it politically, Engler told the SRF.

The European Commission has declined comment on the footage made available to it by the SFR.

More news about the migrant crisis can be found in the Politics section.