On this page, you will find:
To find organisations working for LGBTQI+ rights, visit our Croatia LGBTQI+ Resources page.
For Croatia country of origin information (COI) experts, reports, commentaries, and relevant documents visit our Croatia COI page.
Refugee protection
Click here to see the numbers and origins of refugees hosted by Croatia.
The following sections contain information on the most important international treaties and agreements of which Croatia is signatory, as well as national legislation relevant to the protection of refugees.
Croatia acceded to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol in October 1992. Croatia also acceded to the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, as well as the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Such international refugee protection, in tandem with Croatia’s ratification of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, create the existing international protection frameworks.
Croatia’s national legal framework related to asylum seekers, on the other hand, consists of the International and Temporary Protection Act, the Foreigners Act, and the Croatian Citizenship Act all of which shape the framework for conditions of entry, movement, residence, and work obligations.
Legal aid organisations
Website
Address: Selska cesta 112a, Zagreb
Tel: +38514820094
Email: cms@cms.hr
Contact Person: Tea Vidovic Dalipi (tea.vidovic@cms.hr)
CPS provides a broad range of services including peace education and nonviolence affirmation, human security resources, and free legal aid and info points. In particular, CPS provides legal aid to asylum seekers, persons with international protection and foreigners in the matter of asylum and status every Monday from 10-12h and Thursday from 17-19h at the address provided above.
Website
Address: Hebrangova 21, 10000 Zagreb
Tel: (01) 48 73 967
Fax: (01) 48 35 013
Email: hpc@hpc.hr
The Croatian Law Centre provides a range of information related to the asylum process in Croatia. Furthermore, since 2003, the centre has implemented a “Legal Assistance to Asylum Seekers” project which provides legal information to asylum seekers, contributes to the improvement of asylum standards in law, and connects different actors operating in the asylum system to contribute to the public understanding of asylum rights.
Website
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
Address: Crvenog kriza 14/1, PO Box 93, HR-10001, Zagreb
Tel: + 385 1 4655 814
Fax: + 385 1 4655 365
Email: redcross@hck.hr
Contact Person: Sanja Pupačić
The CRC, in tandem with UNHCR and the Ministry of Interior, provide psychosocial support, humanitarian aid, and other asylum services in their asylum reception centres. Other support activities, however, include the restoration of family links, and the organisation of social activities such as sports, education, language courses, and the provision of needs-based advocacy.
Website
Address: Gundulićeva 55, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
Tel: +385 (1)4 92 18 62
Fax: +385 (1)4 92 18 27
Email: zagreb-sdf@sdf.hr
SRD provides free legal aid to refugees and forcibly displaced people. They have a particular expertise in returnees attempting to reclaim property and access social welfare pensions.
Organisations providing other support to refugees
Website
Email(s): contact@w2eu.info or w2eu_info@yahoo.com
W2eu.info, or, Welcome to Europe, is an online resource that provides a breadth of information for refugees arriving in Europe. Their website can be translated into English, French, Arabic, and Persian and has additional contacts within Croatia, as well as a detailed overview of national asylum laws and work obligations.
Croatia LGBTQI+ Resources
Find organisations working for refugee LGBTQI+ rights in Croatia.
Croatia COI
Find Croatia Country of Origin information (COI) experts, reports, commentaries, and relevant documents.
We are always looking to expand the resources on our platform. If you know about relevant resources, or you are aware of organisations and/or individuals to include in our directories, please get in touch.
Last updated May 2023