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Description
The Republic of Croatia has undertaken to fully comply with the Law on Schengen Borders, which expressly requires members to comply with international and EU law, including the Convention on Refugees. A number of international organizations dealing with the protection of human rights have criticized Croatia on the basis of evidence for non-observance of these rights, expressing concern about Croatia''s entry into Schengen. Since the Republic of Croatia entered the Schengen area on January 1, 2023, recommendations were made to improve the situation. We will advocate the adoption of those recommendations
The project Better system, better respect for human rights strives for immediate action in the matter of protecting the rights of refugees and preventing access to the asylum system in view of Croatia''s entry into the Schengen area. The goal is to investigate whether the practices of disrespecting the rights of migrants have recently changed, to increase support for human rights to migrants with accurate information regarding the right to international protection, and by advocating their rights before the relevant authorities, to change the policies and practices of the Republic of Croatia towards these persons in the long term.
By providing information and advocacy support to migrants who are victims of police violence and who are denied access to the asylum system, we strive to empower victims and achieve transparency of data on human rights violations. The activities will include research on recorded violations of migrants'' rights, including violence at the border as well as limited access to information.
The results of the research are the basis for public advocacy towards the relevant institutions in order to influence the change of current practices. We will strive to network with other CSOs in order to jointly advocate the prevention of discrimination and the observance of human rights.
Summary of project results
The Republic of Croatia has undertaken to fully comply with the Law on Schengen Borders, which expressly requires members to comply with international and EU law, including the Convention on Refugees. A number of international organizations dealing with the protection of human rights have criticized Croatia on the basis of evidence for non-observance of these rights, expressing concern about Croatia''s entry into Schengen. Since the Republic of Croatia entered the Schengen area on January 1, 2023, recommendations were made to improve the situation.
Based on this project, we will advocate the adoption of those recommendations. The goal is to investigate whether the practices of disrespecting the rights of these persons have changed with the entry into the Schengen area, to increase support for human rights by providing migrants with accurate information regarding the right to international protection, and by advocating their rights before the relevant authorities, to change the policies and practices of the Republic of Croatia towards these persons in the long term.
By providing information and advocacy support to migrants who are victims of police violence and who are denied access to the asylum system, we strive to empower victims and achieve transparency of data on human rights violations. The activities will include research in such a way as to record violations of migrants'' rights, which include violence at the border as well as limited access to information.
The results of the research will serve as a basis for public advocacy towards the relevant institutions in order to influence the change of current practices.
Also, as an outcome of this project, we will strive to network with other CSOs in the Republic of Croatia in order to jointly advocate the prevention of discrimination and the observance of human rights.
The beneficiaries of this project are vulnerable groups, migrants who will gain information about their rights, and this project would serve as a basis for positive changes regarding the protection of refugee rights in the new political system that Croatia is entering.
One study was conducted on a sample of 52 subjects; 1 CSO using research evidence for advocacy; 1 complaint was submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman (users who are not asylum seekers but have experienced a violation of their rights did not want to file a complaint/submission because they wanted to leave Croatia as soon as possible, but thanks to the project we increased the visibility among users of the complaint that we submitted live at the Office of the Ombudsman refers to asylum seekers and rights violations they experience in the Reception Center for seekers). Through the implementation of the project, cooperation was achieved with the organizations NoNameKitchen, which will also from now on stay and provide their services at the transit point in Rijeka, and with the Institute for Ethnology and Folklore, which investigates irregular migration.
The advocacy/watchdog role of civil society has been strengthened based on the results of research conducted in support of public policy advocacy and discussions. We investigated whether Croatia complies with EU signature documents by entering the Schengen area, i.e. whether it violates the human rights of migrants and to what extent. The results of the research were disseminated to other CSOs and other relevant actors, in order to advocate for changes and the implementation of recommendations regarding border surveillance, taking into account the evidence of CSOs regarding the evaluation and creation of policies regarding the protection of refugees, and emphasizing the importance of Croatia''s cooperation with relevant human rights monitoring bodies of the United Nations and the Council of Europe. Through research, we found that users are not aware of their legal status in the Republic of Croatia, or more precisely, that they did not receive accurate and/or complete information from the Ministry of the Interior. More than 90% of users were not aware that they had expressed their intention to seek asylum in the Republic of Croatia and that they were in the status of asylum seekers. They were convinced that the foreigners were in the process of returning and that they had been issued a decision to leave the EEA within seven days. We reported the situation to the Ombudsman''s Office, from which they told us that they will pay attention to it from now on, and especially whether translators are used when expressing intentions in order to reach an agreement with the parties. It was established that although the Republic of Croatia in principle respects the right to seek asylum in these situations (which was the aim of the investigation), it remains questionable whether our users really wanted it, and the failure of the MUP in not informing the users about their legal status remains.