Author
Cessation of international protection is regulated by the LITP. Asylum shall be ceased if:[1]
- The refugee (“asylee”) voluntarily accepts the protection of her/his country of citizenship;
- The asylee acquires the citizenship of the country whose protection he or she may enjoy;
- The asylee voluntarily returns and resides in the country he or she left or outside of which he or she has resided due to fear of persecution;
- The circumstances in the asylee’s country of origin, on the basis of which international protection was approved, cease to exist;
- The refugee voluntarily re-acquires the citizenship of his or her country of origin, which he or she had previously lost.
Subsidiary protection shall be ceased if the circumstances on the basis of which it was granted cease to exist or are altered to such an extent that further protection is no longer necessary.[2]
The Ministry of Interior carries out, ex officio, the procedure of examining the existence of the above-mentioned presumptions.[3]
After establishing that the circumstances related to the cessation of asylum referred to in point 4. above as well as circumstances related to the cessation of subsidiary protection are of a significant and permanent manner, the Ministry of Interior shall accordingly inform in writing the asylee or beneficiary of subsidiary protection and shall allow him or her to make an oral statement for the record.[4]
The Ministry of Interior shall issue a decision to revoke the decision approving international protection and a claim may be brought before the Administrative Court within eight days of the day of delivery of the decision.[5]
International protection shall cease by force of law when the asylee or the foreigner under subsidiary protection acquires Croatian nationality or on the death of the asylee or the foreigner under subsidiary protection.[6]
Persons whose decision granting international protection was revoked have the right to free legal aid, meaning that a legal representative can be paid from the State budget to submit a lawsuit and represent the beneficiary before the Administrative Court.[7]
According to the Ministry of Interior, there were no cases of cessation of international protection in 2015, 2016, 2017 or 2018.[8] However, the Ministry continuously examines whether the legal requirements for cessation are fulfilled. This provision applies without exception to all categories of foreigners who have previously been granted international protection. No information on cases of cessation of international protection is available for 2019 and 2020.
In 2021, subsidiary protection was ceased for one Georgian national pursuant to Art. 49, para. 2 of the LITP.[9] According to the Ministry of Interior, there were no cases of cessation of international protection in 2023.[10]
[1] Article 49(1) LITP.
[2] Article 49(2) LITP.
[3] Article 49(3) LITP.
[4] Article 49(4) LITP.
[5] Article 49(5)-(6) LITP.
[6] Article 49(7) LITP.
[7] Article 72 LITP.
[8] Information provided by the Ministry of Interior, 2 March 2017; 13 February 2018, 28 January 2019.
[9] Croatian Law Centre: The Croatian Asylum System In 2021 – National Report, The report was prepared as part of the project “Access to the territory and the asylum system in Croatia – legal support and capacity building” with the financial support of UNHCR; available in Croatian at: https://bit.ly/3NgBDfc and in English at: https://bit.ly/3NBvVpC.
[10] Information provided by the Ministry of Interior, 8 March 2024.