Author
During the procedure for international protection, detention is possible under all types of procedures, where the conditions prescribed by the LITP are met. However, the majority of applicants for international protection are not detained but are accommodated in open centres. In that sense, it is not likely that any category of applicants would spend the whole status determination procedure in detention. The main reasons for the detention of applicants are situations where they request international protection after having been issued with a deportation order and situations where they left or attempted to leave Croatia before the completion of the procedure for international protection.
Croatia has three detention centres: the Reception Centre for Foreigners located in Ježevo, with a total capacity of 95 places; the Transit Reception Centre in Trilj with a total capacity of 62 places; and the Transit Reception Centre in Tovarnik with a total capacity of 62 places.[1] This brings the total capacity of detention centres to 219 according to information provided by the Ministry of Interior in 2019. No information is available on whether this has changed in the period from 2020 until the end of 2024.
The UNICEF Office in Croatia reported that in 2024, a significant increase was observed in the total number of children[2] accommodated in the Reception Centre Ježevo and the Transit Reception Centres in Tovarnik and Trilj during the first nine months of the year (230 children, 43% girls), representing an increase of nearly 30% compared to 2023 (179 children, 39% girls). The largest number of children was accommodated in the Transit Centre in Tovarnik (145 children, or 63%). UNICEF highlighted particular concern over the fact that in 2024, the highest number of children under the age of seven (90 children, or 39%) were accommodated in the Reception Centre Ježevo and the Transit Centres in Tovarnik and Trilj, compared to other age groups. However, when analysing the data by individual centre, only the Reception Centre Ježevo saw a decrease in the number of children accommodated during the first nine months of 2024 (21 children, of whom 38% were girls), compared to 2023 (73 children, of whom 34% were girls).[3]
According to the data of the Ministry of Interior, irregular border crossings decreased in 2024 (i.e., there were 29,294 irregular border crossings recorded). The greatest pressure regarding the irregular border crossings was recorded in the area of the Brodsko-posavska Police administration. Namely, out of the total number of actions related to irregular crossings, 7,647 were recorded in the area of Brodsko-posavska Police Administration.[4]
The Centre in Dugi Dol was opened at the end of 2023, with a capacity to accommodate a maximum of 500 applicants for international protection. It was established due to the increased number of applicants in that area in previous years, in order to conduct the registration of applicants, who would then be sent either to reception centres for international protection applicants or, based on the assessment, to reception centres for foreigners. The establishment of the Centre aimed to relieve the police (border) stations in the area, as they did not have sufficient capacity to handle the increased number of applicants.
During a visit of the Ombuswoman’s empoyees in 2024, under the role of the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM), the NPM representatives were not granted full access to all relevant data, as there were no police officers authorized to provide such data at the Centre. As a result, the NPM representatives had a telephone conversation on-site with the competent person, who informed them about the operations of the Centre. However, even through the phone conversation, the necessary data could not be gathered, as the Centre did not maintain special records regarding the treatment of detained persons. Therefore, data on the number of persons, as well as their demographic structure (such as age, gender, nationality, etc.), were not available. Records of the time of arrival and release from the Centre were also not kept. According to the police officer, the Centre only recorded data regarding the registration of the intention to submit an application for international protection, took statements about the personal data of foreigners, and compiled an official note on inspections and seizures of items. All other data about persons detained in the Centre are maintained by the police station at the location where a person was found through an event log, physical objects, and relevant records.
The Ombudswoman highlighted that the main mechanism of protection in cases of deprivation of liberty is the maintenance of a unique and comprehensive record that includes all aspects of the individual’s stay (i.e., the deprivation of liberty, as well as all actions taken in connection with it). The lack of such records hinders the ability to control operations and oversee the treatment of detained persons.
Considering the nature and possible duration of detention, as well as the fact that families with children and other vulnerable groups are detained at the Centre, the material conditions for accommodating individuals were inadequate. The containers were equipped only with bunk beds without mattresses or bedding, there were no showers or hot water in the Centre, and only chemical toilets were available.
It is particularly concerning that, during the visit, the length of stay of the applicants in the Centre could not be determined. Furthermore, in the Centre, which is designed to accommodate up to 500 individuals, the registration process for six individuals who were found during the NPM visit was not initiated within a period longer than 12 hours. Therefore, after the visit, the NPM representatives alerted the Ministry of the Interior that the accommodation conditions must be brought into line with the CPT standards (providing sufficient space, mattresses, bedding, access to sanitary facilities, showers, hot water, etc.), and that the NPM representatives, in accordance with Article 5 of the Law on National Preventive Mechanism and Article 20 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, should be granted full access to all requested data regardless of their storage method. Additionally, for the applicants detained at the Centre, the legal grounds for their detention need to be clearly established, along with the maximum possible period of detention in the Centre, and all guarantees should be provided in accordance with international standards.[5]
According to some announcements, the Centre in Dugi Dol should expand its capacities by mid-2025, increasing the accommodation capacities from 500 to 1,500 people. The centre, which until now served for short-term accommodation of migrants for up to 24 hours, will in the future allow for a longer stay, from seven days to a maximum of 12 weeks. During this period, a detailed check (i.e. screening) will be carried out.[6]
During 2024, 90 persons expressed their intention to apply for international protection in the Reception Center for Foreigners, 34 in the Transit Reception Center for Foreigners Tovarnik, and 71 persons in the Transit Reception Center Trilj.[7]
In 2024, the Service for the Reception and Accommodation of Applicants for International Protection issued 11% more decisions restricting freedom of movement compared to 2023 (i.e., issued 52 decisions on restriction of the freedom of movement, through the measure of detention). This included 50 decisions on detention in the Reception Centre for Foreigners in Ježevo, while two applicants were detained in Transit Reception Centre for Foreigners in Trilj. Among applicants detained, 94% were male (2 boys and 47 men) and 4% were female (3 women).
Data on decisions on the restriction of freedom issued by police administrations or stations are not available, so it was not possible to determine the total number of applicants for international protection whose right to freedom of movement was restricted in 2024. In March 2024, the Ministry of Interior reported that they do not keep records on the average duration of the restrictions on the freedom of movement at the Reception Centres for Foreigners. Measures for the restriction of freedom of movement are imposed as long as reasons listed in Article 54 paragraph 2 of the LITP exist, and so for up to 3 months. Exceptionally, for justified reasons, measures may be extended for a maximum of three additional months.[8]
The UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) visited Croatia for the first time from 2 to 8 July 2023 to assess the treatment of people deprived of their liberty and the safeguards in place to protect them from torture and ill-treatment. The SPT visited various places of deprivation of liberty, including, police stations and migration centres.[9]
In the report for 2024, the Ombudsman for Children stated that in 2024, in the Reception Center for Foreigners in Ježevo, 19 children were accommodated accompanied by their families, while two were unaccompanied. 16 children were readmitted to Bosnia and Herzegovina, two were returned to their country of origin, two were placed in the social care institution, and one child expressed the intention to submit an application for international protection and was accomodated in the Reception Center for Applicants for International Protection in Zagreb. There was also a significant increase in the number of children compared to 2023 in the Transit Reception Center for Foreigners in Tovarnik, where there were 150 children, of which 129 children with families and 21 unaccompanied children. 95 of them were returned to Bosnia and Herzegovina, 10 to Serbia, five were returned to their country of origin, and the rest (40 of them) expressed the intention to submit an application for international protection. In parallel, in 2023, the Center in Tovarnik accommodated 65 children with their families, nine unaccompanied children and eight children with special guardians. The Transit Reception Center for Foreigners in Trilj accommodated twice as many children as in 2023, namely 76 with their families and five unaccompanied children. 51 of them were returned to Bosnia and Herzegovina, two to their country of origin, five were placed in a social welfare institution, and 22 of them were accomodated in the Reception Center for Applicants International Protection in Zagreb as they expressed intention to seek international protection. In 2023, the Center in Trilj accommodated 40 children accompanied by their families and three unaccompanied children.
In her 2024 report, the Ombudswoman stated that migrants and their attorneys had contacted her office with complaints about being denied access to the international protection system in reception centers for foreigners. One migrant, held in a center, reported that he feared returning to his country of origin due to potential human rights violations. He claimed that he requested asylum while at the center, but that police officers ignored his intention. Another migrant stated that he had expressed intention to apply for international protection to the police officers at the center, but they failed to register it and instead beat him. Fearing further violence, he signed a document in which he renounced his intention for international protection. Both migrants were only granted access to the asylum procedure after contacting a lawyer and/or the Ombudswoman.[11]
In 2024, a case related to extradition detention was declared inadmissible by the ECtHR.[12] The applicant, who had been arrested in Türkiye on terrorism-related charges linked to the activities of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), was held in extradition detention in Croatia pending extradition to Türkiye pursuant to an international arrest warrant, even though he had previously been granted refugee status in Switzerland. He pursued legal proceedings before Croatian courts to challenge his extradition, but the courts initially approved the extradition. However, the Constitutional Court overturned the domestic courts’ decisions, stating that, following the applicant’s recognition as a refugee in Switzerland, he enjoyed protection within the territory of European Union Member States under the rules of the Dublin Regulation. It found that extradition would violate the principle of non-refoulement. Following the Constitutional Court’s decision, the domestic courts rejected the request for the applicant’s extradition and, in July 2018, released him from extradition detention after 372 days of detention. In December 2023, the County Court in Vukovar fully granted the claim for reimbursement of the applicant’s legal representation costs in the extradition proceedings. Meanwhile, the Zagreb Municipal Civil Court ruled that the unjust deprivation of liberty constituted a serious violation of the applicant’s rights and awarded him 12,400 EUR for non-pecuniary damages. Before the ECtHR, the applicant complained under Article 5 of the Convention of unjustified detention in extradition custody with the intention of extraditing him to Türkiye, despite the domestic authorities being informed from the beginning about his refugee status in Switzerland; under Article 6 of the Convention regarding the failure of the domestic court to decide on his request for reimbursement of legal costs; and under Article 3 of the Convention that the unjustified deprivation of liberty caused him mental suffering. Regarding Article 5 of the Convention, the ECtHR stated that the complaint was premature, since the domestic court had awarded the applicant 12,400 EUR for non-pecuniary damage, found that the competent authorities had failed to properly consider his refugee status when deciding on the extradition request, and acknowledged that the extradition detention had caused him mental suffering. Given that the appeal proceedings are still ongoing, the ECtHR concluded that there is no reason to doubt that the national courts, including the Constitutional Court if necessary, will address the matter in accordance with the relevant criteria of the ECtHR, and therefore rejected this part of the application under Article 35 of the Convention. Furthermore, examining the alleged violation of Article 6 of the Convention, the ECtHR noted that the competent County Court in Vukovar had fully decided on the applicant’s request for reimbursement of legal costs in the extradition proceedings, and that the applicant had not exhausted domestic remedies concerning the excessive length of the proceedings. Therefore, the ECtHR also rejected this part of the application under Article 35 of the Convention. Finally, considering the applicant’s complaint under Article 3 of the Convention, the ECtHR observed that, in the civil proceedings, the applicant sought compensation for non-pecuniary damages relying on previously presented arguments. Since those proceedings are still pending before the second-instance court, the ECtHR also rejected this complaint as premature under Article 35 of the Convention.
[1] Information provided by the Ministry of Interior, Border Directorate, 6 February 2019.
[2] The figures do not refer exclusively to children seeking international protection.
[3] Information provided by UNICEF Office for Croatia, 4 February 2025.
[4] Ministry of Interior, Statistical overview of the fundamental safety indicators and work results in 2024, page 158, available at: https://mup.gov.hr/UserDocsImages/statistika/2025/statistika%20za%202024%20hrv%20i%20eng/Statisticki_pregled_2024_web.pdf.
[5] Ombudswoman: Report of the Ombudswoman for 2024, page 276-277, available at: https://www.ombudsman.hr/hr/download/izvje-e-pu-ke-pravobraniteljice-za-2024-godinu/?wpdmdl=20339&refresh=67efca50785f31743768144/.
[6] Tanja Kuturovac “The center for migrants in Dugi Dol is expanding its capacities and introducing new functions”( HRT, 22 November 2024.) available at: https://vijesti.hrt.hr/hrvatska/centar-za-migrante-u-dugom-dolu-siri-kapacitete-i-uvodi-nove-funkcije-11873430.
[7] 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.
[8] Information provided by the Ministry of Interior, 8 March 2024.
[9] UN Human Rights, Office of the High Commissioner. Croatia’s detention facilities in spotlight as UN torture prevention body concludes visit, available at: https://bit.ly/3VvHa5v.
[11] Ombudswoman: Report of the Ombudswoman for 2024, page 271, available at: https://www.ombudsman.hr/hr/download/izvje-e-pu-ke-pravobraniteljice-za-2024-godinu/?wpdmdl=20339&refresh=67efca50785f31743768144/.
[12] EctHR: DECISION Application no. 3745/18; N.O. against Croatia; available at: https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/fre#{%22itemid%22:[%22001-234056%22]}.