Author
According to the LITP, “unaccompanied child” means a third-country national or a stateless person younger than eighteen years of age who entered the Republic of Croatia unaccompanied by an adult person responsible for them in the sense of parental care, pursuant to the law of the Republic of Croatia, until placed under the care of such a person, and includes all children who are left unaccompanied after they entered the Republic of Croatia.[1]
In 2024, 1,980 unaccompanied children expressed their intention to apply for international protection (i.e., made application). However, only 19 of them lodged an application for international protection, indicating high onwards movement.[2]
A special guardian should be appointed for each unaccompanied child, with the exception of married unaccompanied children over the age of 16.[3]
A child who has reached the age of fourteen may lodge an appeal against the decision of the Croatian Institute for Social Welfare regarding the appointment of a special guardian. The appeal is decided by the ministry responsible for social welfare.[4]
It is also possible to submit a complaint about the guardian’s conduct to the Croatian Institute for Social Welfare.[5]
Complaints regarding violations of children’s rights can also be submitted to the Ombudswoman for Children verbally, by phone or in person, as well as in written form.[6]
Time of appointment
According to the LITP, the body responsible for social welfare shall immediately appoint a special guardian to an unaccompanied child who has expressed the intention to submit an application for international protection. The special guardian must be trained to work with children and should not have a conflict of interest with the child.[7]
According to the Protocol on Procedures for Unaccompanied and Separated Children, as soon as it is established that a child is unaccompanied or separated, the police officer must take actions to ensure the procedure of identification, which among others includes the obligation to invite a social worker from the competent regional office of Croatian Institute for Social work and an interpreter if the child does not understand Croatian, and to forward a letter to the competent regional office requesting a special guardian to be appointed.
The procedure of identification includes:
- Communication, introducing oneself and informing the child about the country of arrival, their guaranteed rights, the appointment of a special guardian, procedures that follow after the child’s identification;
- Collecting personal data and other information about the child;
- Conducting an initial assessment of the child’s needs by completing the form “Initial Assessment of Needs of Unaccompanied and Separated Children” in Annex 1 to the Protocol;
- Steps to be followed in the event of an expression of intention to submit an application for international protection during the identification procedure.
The procedure of identification is conducted by a police officer in the police administration or police station. An interpreter assigned by the Ministry of Interior, a social worker from the regional office of Croatian Institute for Social work and/or a special guardian also participate.
Where the procedure of identification is conducted outside the regular working hours of the competent regional office of Croatian Institute for Social work, the expert duty officer of the regional office takes part in the procedure. They must appoint a special guardian, in an oral ruling, to protect the wellbeing of the child and to ensure the implementation of further procedures. If it is found out that the child already has a guardian, the official from regional office or the police officer will call the appointed guardian to take part in further procedures with the unaccompanied or separated child.
The child must be informed immediately about the appointment of the guardian. The procedure for international protection must be conducted by the official from the Ministry of Interior trained to work with children. The guardian has to prepare, on time, the unaccompanied child for the interview and provide them with information on the significance and consequences of the interview in a language which it may justifiably be assumed that the child understands and in which they are able to communicate. The costs of interpretation shall be borne by the Ministry of Interior.[8]
However, to the Croatian Law Centre’s knowledge, this possibility is rarely used in practice as guardians are not using this legal right.
According to the Ministry of Labour, Pension, Family and Social Policy (MLPFSP), during 2024, the Croatian Institute for Social Work (CISW) Regional Offices appointed special guardians to 1,926 unaccompanied children. This data corresponds to the number of decisions on the appointment or dismissal of special guardians for unaccompanied and separated children made by CISW Regional Offices. The majority of guardian appointments were made to children from Syria (972), Egypt (399), Afghanistan (210) and Türkiye (209). In terms of age, 1,742 children (90%) were aged 14-17.[9]
In 2024, the Croatian Law Centre (CLC) implemented the project “Legal Assistance and Capacity Building for Access to Territory and Asylum in Croatia” with the financial support of the UNHCR. During the year, due to the short duration of children’s stay and their rapid departure from accommodation facilities and consequently Croatia, unaccompanied minors were not provided with legal information or assistance, as it was not possible to organise counselling within the available timeframe.
Qualifications of guardians
As of the end of 2024, no special qualifications were required for the appointment of guardians.
According to the Law on Social Welfare, the previous centres for social welfare ceased to operate on December 31, 2022, and as of January 1, 2023, their duties were taken over by the Croatian Institute for Social Work.[10]
In practice, according to the information available to the Croatian Law Centre, usually employees of Croatian Institute for Social Work (CISW) are appointed as guardians. In some cases, employees of social welfare institutions where children are accommodated are also appointed as guardians as well as employees of the Croatian Red Cross.
The Croatian Red Cross (CRC) reported that unaccompanied children accommodated in social welfare institutions, as well as the staff of these institutions, receive support from CRC’s staff. Unfortunately, CRC staff are often not informed whether a particular unaccompanied child has been placed in a social welfare institution. In 2024, CRC employees visited children’s homes as needed and based on information received from the Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy. The services provided included psychosocial support and the restoration of family links. However,the duration of stay of unaccompanied foreign minors was generally very short, and they would leave the Republic of Croatia shortly after their arrival.[11]
The previous updates of the AIDA report on Croatia provide background information on the different trainings and projects related to the unaccompanied children that were organised since 2016.
Capacity and performance of functions
Guardians of unaccompanied children were and still are generally appointed among the employees of the Croatian Institute for Social Work or among employees of social welfare institutions where children are accommodated.
According to the law, the best interests of children should be considered when implementing provisions of LITP.[12] The best interests of the child shall be assessed, taking into account:
- The welfare and social development of the child, and their origin;
- The protection and safety of the child, especially if the possibility exists that they are a victim of trafficking in human beings;
- The child’s opinion, depending on their age and maturity; and
- The possibility of family reunification, etc.
The special guardian of the unaccompanied child shall undertake, as soon as possible after the application for international protection is submitted, all necessary actions to find the family members and reunite the child with the family, if that is in the child’s interest, including contacting and cooperating with relevant ministries, other state and foreign bodies and NGOs. The special guardian is obliged to respect the principle of confidentiality when collecting, processing and exchanging information about the child and family members in order not to endanger their safety.
On the other hand, the LITP prescribes that a guardian shall not be appointed when an unaccompanied child is over 16 years of age and is married,[13] which can be understood that persons from the age of 16 have the capacity “to perform procedural acts” on their own behalf in procedures for international protection.
In her report for 2024, the Ombudswoman for Children reported that, although the amendments of the Law on International and Temporary Protection have strengthened the role of the special guardian in caring for unaccompanied children—stipulating that a special guardian shall be appointed immediately to any unaccompanied child expressing the intention to apply for international protection and who will, in the shortest possible time after the application is lodged, undertake all necessary actions to locate family members and enable family reunification—, the duties of special guardians remain extensive and complex, and difficulties arise in their practical implementation. Special guardians are most often appointed from the territorially competent social welfare offices of the Croatian Institute for Social Work (CISW). In 2024, a total of 1,957 decisions were issued appointing special guardians as legal representatives for unaccompanied minors, which is slightly more than in 2023 (1,884 decisions). Of these, 1,873 children were assigned professional staff members from the competent CISW office as their special guardians, while for the remaining children, relatives or other individuals were appointed.
The role of a special guardian involves a wide range of responsibilities: from ensuring the child’s daily needs and access to healthcare, to representing the child before competent authorities in the process of obtaining international protection, accompanying them to the border, and undertaking actions related to family reunification. The complexity of tasks, the necessity to act outside of regular working hours —often at night— and the demanding nature of their primary duties contribute to their overload. Procedures are complex and require multiple steps and coordination with other services, including interviews with the unaccompanied child and the arrangement of appropriate accommodation. Special guardians sometimes face the challenge of individuals later arriving at the institution claiming to be related to the child, prompting the need to verify whether such individuals are eligible to act as guardians. The obligation to conduct numerous administrative procedures for a single child —who may end up remaining in Croatia for only one or two days— also contributes to their workload. Additionally, as the special guardian is initially appointed in the area where the child expressed intention to seek international protection, and is subsequently replaced by a new guardian based on the child’s place of residence, this results in prolonged procedures and delays in informing the child of their rights. In many cases, the newly appointed guardian is assigned weeks after the child has already left the institution.[14]
The Centre for Missing and Exploited Children highlighted the lack of a unified data collection system regarding unaccompanied children; the overburdening of special guardians; the lack of regular training for special guardians; the need for professionalization of guardianship for unaccompanied children; the absence of a formal mechanism for monitoring and evaluating the work of guardians, as well as insufficient involvement of the unaccompanied children in the evaluation of their guardians’ work; and the lack of a formalized system through which unaccompanied children can submit complaints and suggestions regarding the work of their guardians.[15]
[1] Article 4(1)(17) LITP.
[2] Croatian Law Centre: The Croatian Asylum System in 2024- National Report; available at: https://www.hpc.hr/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/National-Asylum-Report-2024_CLC.pdf.
[3] Article 17 (3) LITP.
[4] Article 240 Family Law.
[5] Article 179 Family Law.
[6] Ombudswoman for Children: Complaints regarding violations of children’s rights, available at: https://dijete.hr/hr/prituzba-zbog-povrede-prava-djeteta/.
[7] Article 17 (1) LITP.
[8] Article 17LITP.
[9] Article 17 (10) LITP.
[9] Croatian Law Centre: The Croatian Asylum System in 2024- National Report; available at: https://www.hpc.hr/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/National-Asylum-Report-2024_CLC.pdf.
[10] Law on Social Welfare, Official Gazette 18/2022, 46/2022, 119/2022, 71/2023, 156/2023.
[11] Information provided by the Croatian Red Cross, 20 January 2025.
[12] Article 10 LITP.
[13] Article 17(3) LITP.
[14] Ombudswoman for Children: Report on the work of the Ombudsman for Children in 2024, page 103, available at: https://dijete.hr/hr/download/izvjesce-o-radu-pravobraniteljice-za-djecu-za-2024-godinu/.
[15] Information provided by Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, 30 January 2025.