More than a year since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Croatia had still not imposed a moratorium on new immigration detention orders and nor any released immigration as of mid/2021. Nonetheless there was a significant reduction in the number of people detained at the Jezevo Reception Centre in 2020, dropping to 163 from 535 in 2019. According to UNHCR, there were 916 refugees and 454 asylum seekers in the country in 2019, compared with 966 refugees and 567 asylum seekers in 2020.
Although the Croatian Interior Ministry provided the GDP with information concerning anti-COVID-19 measures adopted in immigration detention in August 2020–which included distribution of facemasks to people in reception centres–ECRE reported in December 2020 that “due to a lack of available information, it is … difficult to assess … how the health measures were implemented in detention centres.”
The country has ratified several relevant international human rights treaties including the Convention against Torture (CAT) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). In its concluding observations in 2014, the Committee against Torture urged Croatia to “place asylum seekers in detention only in exceptional cases and [to] regularly monitor the facilities used as accommodation for asylum seekers through the national preventive mechanism or other monitoring mechanisms. The State party should (a) provide medical treatment and psychological counselling for asylum seekers; (b) ensure the early identification of victims of torture and other persons with specific needs among asylum seekers through the implementation of appropriate national protection mechanisms.”
During its review for the third cycle of the UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in 2020, Croatia received migration- and detention-related recommendations, including: “provide to refugee and asylum seekers effective access to international protection, and review its policy of return and collective deportation of migrants (Mexico) (para. 137.208)” and “strengthen measures to address overcrowding in places of detention and prisons and ensure that new such facilities meet international standards (Russian Federation) (para. 137.81).”
The country has implemented a national vaccination campaign, which according to the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights includes refugees, asylum seekers and migrants. In July 2021, the country lifted certain restrictions regarding entry into the Republic of Croatia. According to a decision issued by the Civil Protection Headquarters, all border crossing points in Croatia are closed, but are subject to exceptions such as for people who possess a valid EU Digital COVID certificate, those that have a negative PCR test and a few other exceptions.
- European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, “Coronavirus pandemic in the EU – Fundamental Rights implications National vaccine deployment,” 5 May 2021, https://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra_uploads/hr_report_on_national_vaccine_deployment.pdf
- Croatian Law Centre, “Country Report: Croatia: 2020 Update,” European Council on Refugees and Exiles (Asylum Information Database), May 2021, https://asylumineurope.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/AIDA-HR_2020update.pdf
- Government of the Republic of Croatia, “Recommendations and instructions for crossing the state border,” Coronavirus.HR, 1 July 2021, https://www.koronavirus.hr/recommendations-and-instructions-for-crossing-the-state-border/736?gclid=Cj0KCQjwub-HBhCyARIsAPctr7xnmiYqw4kgN2qS0gjhOGB9bdlmwwXek7hNLOfYeanDNbb2XHBvy6oaAjggEALw_wcB
- UNHCR, “Refugee Data Finder,” accessed on 23 August 2021, https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/download/?url=55XYyb
- Committee against Torture, “Concluding Observations on the Combined Fourth and Fifth Periodic Reports of Croatia,” CAT/C/HRV/CO/4-5, 18 December 2014, https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CAT%2fC%2fHRV%2fCO%2f4-5&Lang=en
- Human Rights Council, “Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review: Croatia,” A/HRC/46/16, 16 December 2020, https://undocs.org/en/A/HRC/46/16
- Jezevo Reception Centre Seen From Outside, (Source: RTL, “RTL-ova ekipa obišla prihvatni centar Ježevo: pogledajte gdje će biti smještene izbjeglice”, Vjesti.hr, https://bit.ly/2CeTJKU).
