The Croatian Platform for International Citizen Solidarity (CROSOL) on Monday sent an open letter to the Croatian government, asking it to urgently give sanctuary to refugees from Afghanistan and secure support for their evacuation from that country.

“Amidst battles taking place on Afghan territory, we call on the Croatian government to demonstrate solidarity with refugees from that country and urgently offer them asylum and secure support in their evacuation and safe and legal passage to safety,” this non-governmental and non-profit civil society organisation said.

The open letter was sent to Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic, Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic-Radman, Defence Minister Mario Banozic, all members of the Croatian Parliament, as well as Croatian members of the European Parliament.

CROSOL has supported the initiative launched by the Canadian government which has offered asylum for 20,000 refugees, but it warns that this is not even close to enough.

CROSOL said Croatia must join the initiative to help cushion the humanitarian catastrophe and called for stopping all deportations from the EU to Afghanistan.