Croatia treating asylum seekers in accordance with conventions, says minister Milanovic

Croatia treats asylum seekers in accordance with all conventions and at this moment there are no legal grounds for the relocation of asylum seekers, Interior Minister Ranko Ostojic said on Wednesday, stressing however that this did not mean that Croatia was not prepared to help.

Answering a reporter's question regarding the announced presentation of the European Commission's immigration action plan, Ostojic said in the eastern municipality of Gunja, where the government held a session today, that the political issue regarding the relocation of the people seeking asylum in a third country was yet to be discussed both by the government and the European Parliament.

"This isn't a simple matter, it needs to be agreed on. Croatia is a full member of the European Union and we have the right to talk about this with everyone and we shall see what kind of conclusions will be adopted," Ostojic said after the government session.

He underscored that 18 months ago Croatia was faced with a large number of requests from asylum seekers but that 45% of them left Croatia before the procedure of granting asylum was finished. "We have separated the centres and shelters for vulnerable groups, which is a new step Croatia has made. It also must be said that new shelters for illegal immigrants, and a difference needs to be made between them and asylum seekers, are being constructed in Trilj, inland Dalmatia, and in the eastern Croatian municipality of Tovarnik," Ostojic underscored.

"Croatia will fulfil its obligations. We are and we want to be a reliable EU member state and in that sense we will respect out share of the commitments, but at the moment I cannot discuss concrete numbers," Deputy Foreign and European Affairs Minister Josko Klisovic said.

He underlined that before making concrete conclusions regarding the division of quotas for accepting migrants, all EU members must reach an agreement regarding the criteria for the division and the Council of Ministers must adopt a decision.

"We expect the European Commission to issue a document today and propose further steps on how to handle this issue. We assume the document will contain criteria for the distribution of immigrants entering the EU, between EU member states," Klisovic said.

The European Commission plans to adopt laws by year's end binding EU member states to divide the burden of receiving immigrants, with mandatory quotas based on the criteria such as economic power and population. By the end of this month, the Commission will ask EU member states to support the relocation of the refugees that have already arrived.

The relocation strategy is part of a larger package of migration laws, mostly at the request of Italy and other countries from the EU's south, so as to receive help in resolving the issue of thousands of migrants who are arriving from northern Africa to Europe by sea.

(Text: Hina) 

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