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.
At the moment, 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 2022. Due to a lack of available information, it is also difficult to assess whether COVID-19 had an impact on the number of applicants for international protection and how the health measures were implemented in detention centres.
In 2021, the Reception Centre for Applicants for International Protection in Zagreb issued 27 decisions on restriction of the freedom of movement, among which movement was restricted through the measure of banning movement outside the Reception Centre for Applicants for International Protection for seven applicants, reporting in person to the Reception Centre for Applicants for International Protection at a certain time for six applicants and depositing travel documents and tickets for one applicant, while for 13 applicants, the freedom of movement was restricted by detention in the Reception Centre for Foreigners.
In 2021, the average duration of the restrictions on the freedom of movement at the Reception Centre for Foreigners, based on the decision made by the Reception Centre for Applicants for International Protection in Zagreb, was three months. Regarding the structure of applicants whose movement was restricted by detention in the Reception Centre for Foreigners, in the above 13 cases, these were adult male persons who were nationals of Türkiye (11), Algeria (1) and India (1). As for the legal basis for detention in the Reception Centre for Foreigners, for 10 applicants, freedom movement was restricted on the basis of Art. 54, para. 2, item 4 of the Law on International and Temporary Protection (LITP) (prevention of abuse of procedure), and for three on the basis of Art. 54, para. 2, item 3 of the LITP (protection of the national security or public order of the Republic of Croatia). Data on decisions on the restriction of freedom issued by police administrations or stations were not provided for 2021, so it was not possible to determine the total number of applicants for international protection whose right to freedom of movement was restricted in 2021.[2]
505 migrants in 2021 and 905 in 2022 were detained in the Reception Centre for Foreigners in Ježevo.[3]
In 2022, the Service for Reception and Accommodation of Applicants for International Protection issued 85 decisions on restriction of the freedom of movement, among which movement was restricted by detention in Reception Centre for foreigners in Ježevo (45 applicants), Transit Reception Centre for Foreigners Trilj (32 applicants) and in Transit Reception Centre for Foreigners Tovarnik (4 applicants). In addition, for 7 applicants for international protection, decisions on the restriction of freedom of movement were issued by police administrations or stations after expressing intention to seek international protection. All of them were detained in the Reception Centre for Foreigners in Ježevo. The average duration of the detention in the Reception Centre for Foreigners Ježevo was 2 months, while in Transit Reception Centre for Foreigners Trilj and Tovarnik 3 months.[4]
As for the gender composition, the Reception Centre for Foreigners Ježevo’s population was 89% male and 11% female. In terms of age of the persons present in the centre, 75% were in the age group 18-34 and 25% in the age group 35-64. In the Transit Reception Centre for Foreigners in Trilj all applicants were male, 66% in the age group 18-34 and 34% in the age group 35-64. In the Transit Reception Centre in Tovarnik there were also just male applicants, 50% in the age group 18-34 and 50% in the age group 35-64.[5]
Article 54 para. 11 of the Law on International and Temporary Protection (LITP) foresees that a detention order can be issued by the Ministry of Interior, the police administration or the police station and they can decide on a particular measure and its duration. On 24 June 2020, the Constitutional Court issued a decision rejecting the proposal to initiate proceedings to review the constitutionality of this provision.[6] The applicant considered that said provision is contrary to Article 22 para. 2 of the Constitution,[7] as Article 54 para. 11 of LITP stipulates that restrictions on the freedom of movement of third country nationals are issued by an executive body rather than a court. Despite the fact that the Constitutional Court did not initiate proceedings to review the constitutionality, it emphasised in its reasoning that the provisions of the LITP must be interpreted and applied in the light of relevant EU directives and existing case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
[1] Information provided by the Ministry of Interior, Border Directorate, 6 February 2019.
[2] 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.
[3] Ministry of Interior, Statistical overview of basic safety indicators and work results in 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/3N6VXRd; Statistical overview of basic safety indicators and work results in 2022 available at: https://bit.ly/3IRt74L.
[4] Croatian Law Centre, The Croatian Asylum System in 2022 – National Report. The report was prepared as part of the project “Legal Assistance and Capacity Building for Access to Territory and Asylum in Croatia“, with financial support of the UNHCR Croatia: available in English at: https://bit.ly/434T7RL.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Constitutional Court, Decision Number: U-I-503/2018, 24 June 2020, available in Croatian at: https://bit.ly/3wY8SLs.
[7] Article 22 paragraph 2 of the Croatian Constitution reads: No one shall be deprived of liberty, nor may liberty be restricted, except when specified by law, upon which a court shall decide.