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Beneficiaries of international protection have the right to work in the Republic of Croatia, without a residence and work permit or certificate of registration of work.[1] Both asylees and foreigners under subsidiary protection have access to the labour market, without distinction.
However, access to rights and their exercise in the practical life of each beneficiary is challenging. The main obstacle is still the language barrier and the language courses, which is a precondition for successful integration and accessing the labour market.
In order to carry out the quality integration of asylees and foreigners under subsidiary protection in Croatian society, the Ministry of Science and Education, in cooperation with the Sector for Schengen Coordination and European Union funds of the Ministry of Interior, prepared the project “Integration of refugees and foreigners under subsidiary protection in Croatian society, education and preparation for inclusion in the labour market “.
The project was targeting persons who were granted asylum and subsidiary protection who wish to engage in a course of learning the Croatian language, history and culture, or who require the translation of diplomas or certificates for continuation of education or inclusion into the labour market, or who wish to continue primary or secondary education. The project activities were free of charge for beneficiaries and funded by the AMIF – the EU Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund. [2] However, in September 2022, the Ministry of Interior took the decision to terminate the agreement with the Ministry of Science and Education related to the implementation of the mentioned project, among other things, since Croatian language courses were not held.[3]
According to Croatian Red Cross (CRC)[4], in 2022, the Croatian language course were still not conducted continuously and when carried out, were not adapted to all participants who are not on the same level of previous knowledge of the Croatian language, nor are equally capable of mastering the material.
Centre for Peace Studies (CPS) also reported persisting problems with Croatian language courses as they are not implemented continuously nor tailored to the specific group for which they are intended to. In addition, courses last only limited number of hours which is not enough for beneficiaries to properly learn the language and be able to use it in their everyday life.[5]
Similar problems with Croatian language courses were also reported by the Rehabilitation Centre for Stress and Trauma (RCT)[6] and Are You Syrious.[7]
CPS[8] pointed out at the problems in the recognition of qualifications and validation of diplomas. For those beneficiaries who do not poses documents, according to CPS there are no adapted procedures for recognizing qualifications which take into account the specific circumstances in which refugees often find themselves. In addition, CPS reported insufficiently available requalification programs that are closely related to (lack of) knowledge of the Croatian language and consequently to (lack of) possibility of participation.
As mentioned in Housing, asylees and foreigners under subsidiary protection have the right to accommodation if they do not hold financial resources or possessions of significant value, for no longer than 2 years from the day of the delivery of the decision approving international protection.[9] It is expected that within this period, they would learn the language and find a job to support themselves. However in practice, many of them after 2 years still do not know the Croatian language and accordingly have problems finding appropriate employment.
UNHCR’s Participatory Assessment conducted in summer 2020 showed that beneficiaries of international protection often face multiple challenges while attempting to successfully integrate into local labour markets, such as language barriers, difficulties in recognition of previously acquired skills, and limited social and professional networks in the area in which they are looking for jobs [10]
Many other NGOs such as Centre for Cultural Dialogue,[11] Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), the Centre for Peace Studies, the Rehabilitation Centre for Stress and Trauma, Are you Syrious (AYS), CRP Sisak also provide assistance during integration. The Integration Centre “SOL”, which is run by JRS and was opened in 2018, provides support and guidance to individuals and families in the Republic of Croatia, who have been granted international protection, in their integration process.[12]
In 2022, Croatian Red Cross (CRC) provided support regarding employment by phone. CRC maintained cooperation with employers, and one meeting was held with the aim of exchanging experiences and determining the future needs of employers and users.[13]
Civis mundi provided mediation services in finding employment for persons granted international protection.[14]
With the support of JRS, in 2022, 9 persons completed the A1 level of the Croatian language and 17 persons were trained as confectioners, waiters and pizza makers.[15]
In the course of 2022, AYS provided information to persons under international protection on their right to work as well as assistance in job searching.
In 2022, the Rehabilitation Centre for Stress and Trauma (RCT) made contacts with 11 employers, and 18 beneficiaries of international protection concluded fixed-term contracts.[16]
The Croatian Employment Service (CES) is responsible for the implementation of measures in the field of employment of foreigners, with particular emphasis on asylees and foreigners under subsidiary protection. According to the Law on the Labour Market asylee, foreigner under subsidiary protection and foreigner under temporary protection, as well as their family members may apply to the CES. According to this Law, they are equal with Croatian citizens in terms of rights and obligations.
When applying for inclusion in the register of unemployed persons, CES assigns employment counsellors to beneficiaries of international protection. They provide assistance and information about available jobs, how to compile resumes and applications to employers, and gives them the opportunity to use measures an active policy of employment and the exercise of other rights. They also inform them about their obligations as unemployed persons.[17]
According to CES, 55 asylees (of which 31 women), 5 foreigners under subsidiary protection (of which 3 women), 5 members of families of persons that were granted international protection (of which 4women), 633 persons under temporary protection (of which 515 women) and 2 female applicants for international protection were inscribed in their registry as unemployed on 31 December 2022.[18] According to the data of the CES from January 1 until December 2022, 84 asylees, 8 persons under subsidiary protection, 8 member of families of persons under international protection, 2 applicants for international protection and 1604 persons under temporary protection were provided individual counselling at CES and a total of 2318 individual counselling for these users were conducted, while 2 asylees, 1 person under subsidiary protection and 171 foreigners under temporary protection were included in active employment policy measures. Most of the persons registered were from Ukraine (633), Syria (25), Afghanistan (15), Iraq (8) and Türkiye (5).
Similarly to previous years, CES highlighted the lack of knowledge of Croatian and/or English as well as a low motivation to learn the language and to be engaged in other programmes that can raise the chances of gaining employment, as a major obstacles to the integration of beneficiaries of protection. Despite that CES recorded the successful employment of persons under international and temporary protection.
[1] Article 68(1) LITP.
[2] Ministry of Science and Education: Information on Croatian language courses and translation of diplomas and certificates for persons with asylum status or persons under subsidiary protection, available at: https://bit.ly/3jrADX3.
[3] Ministry of Interior: Decision on the cancellation of the Decision on the allocation of financial resources for the implementation of the project “Integration of asylees and foreigners under subsidiary protection into Croatian society, education and preparation for inclusion in the labor market”; available in Croatian at: https://bit.ly/3lzxqtk.
[4] Information provided by Croatian Red Cross, 18 January 2023.
[5] Information provided by Centre for Peace Studies, 18 January 2022.
[6] Information provided by the Rehabilitation Centre for Stress and Trauma, 18 January 2023.
[7] Information provided by Are you Syrious, 3 February 2023,
[8] Information provided by Centre for Peace Studies, 18 January 2022.
[9] Article 67(4) LITP.
[10] UNHCR, 2020 Participatory Assessment Croatia, Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on refugee integration in Croatia, March 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/3ISKbFv.
[11] See: https://ccd.hr/.
[12] JRS, ‘Refuge Integration Centre „SOL“ opened’ , 2018, available at: https://bit.ly/3chtSBs.
[13] Information provided by Croatian Red Cross, 18 January 2023.
[14] Information provided by Civis Mundi, 14 February 2023.
[15] JRS, Annual report 2022, available at: https://bit.ly/3C7rigq.
[16] Information provided by the Rehabilitation Centre for Stress and Trauma, 18 January 20223.
[17] Croatian Association of Social Workers: Handbook- The role of social welfare in the process of integration of persons with international protection, available at: https://bit.ly/3xhMv64.
[18] Information provided by the Croatian Employment Service, 12 January 2023.