Author
According to the LITP, international protection shall be revoked if:[1]
- Reasons for exclusion are subsequently established;
- It is established that status was recognised on the basis of incorrectly presented or omitted facts, false presentation of important facts and circumstances, or the use of unreliable documents or other documents which were decisive for the approval of international protection; or
- The person to whom international protection was granted represents a risk to the national security or public order of the Republic of Croatia.
The Ministry of Interior carries out, ex officio, the procedure of examining the existence of the above-mentioned presumptions.[2]
After establishing that circumstances have arisen relating to the revocation of international protection, the Ministry of Interior shall inform in writing the asylee or beneficiary of subsidiary protection of the reasons for revocation and shall allow him or her to make an oral statement about those circumstances for the record.[3]
The Ministry of Interior issues a decision to revoke the decision granting international protection. A lawsuit may be brought before the Administrative Court against that decision within eight days from the day the decision is delivered.[4]
A third-country national or stateless person who represents a risk to the national security or public order of the Republic of Croatia as provided above, whilst in the Republic of Croatia, shall enjoy rights pursuant to the 1951 Convention, especially in relation to the prohibition of discrimination, freedom of religion, access to courts, education, non-punishment of irregular entry or stay, expulsion and respect of the non-refoulement principle.
In 2018, the Ministry of Interior revoked international protection for three persons (two refugees and one beneficiary of subsidiary protection). Out of those, one asylum status of an Afghan national and one subsidiary protection status of unknown citizenship were revoked on the ground that they represented a risk to the national security or public order of the Republic of Croatia, while one asylum status of an Iraqi national was revoked on the basis that reasons for exclusion were subsequently established.[5]
According to the Ministry of Interior, two asylum status (applications from 2016 and 2017) and three subsidiary protections (applications from 2009) were annulled in 2020.[6]
In 2021, international protection was annulled for four persons.[7] According to the Ministry of Interior, there were no cases of annulment of international protection in 2023.[8]
[1] Article 50 LITP.
[2] Article 50(2) LITP.
[3] Article 50(3) LITP.
[4] Article 50(4) – (5) LITP.
[5] Information provided by the Ministry of Interior, 28 January 2019.
[6] Ministry of Interior, Statistical overview of basic safety indicators and work results in 2020, available in Croatian at: https://bit.ly/2QsZP4H, p. 163.
[7] 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://www.hpc.hr/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/The-Croatian-Asylum-System-2021.pdf
[8] Information provided by the Ministry of Interior, 8 March 2024.