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.
After establishing that circumstances have arisen relating to the revocation of international protection, the Ministry of Interior shall inform the refugee 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.
The Ministry of Interior renders a decision to revoke the decision approving international protection. A law suit may be brought before the Administrative Court against that decision within 8 days from the day the decision is delivered.
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 3 persons (2 refugees and 1 holder 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 basis that person to whom international protection was granted 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risk to the national security or public order of the Republic of Croatia, while one asylum status of an Iraqi national was revoked on the basis that reasons for exclusion were subsequently established.[2]
According to the Ministry of Interior, 2 asylum statuses (applications from 2016 and 2017) and 3 subsidiary protection (applications from 2009) were annulled in 2020.[3]
In 2021, international protection was annulled for four persons.[4]
[1] Article 50 LITP.
[2] Information provided by the Ministry of Interior, 28 January 2019.
[3] Source: Ministry of Interior, Statistical overview of basic safety indicators and work results in 2020, available at: https://bit.ly/2QsZP4H, 163.
[4] 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/3NBv.