Tens of thousands of young people from South America would like to immigrate in Croatia, mainly descendants of Croat emigrants who had settled on that continent, the Vecernji List (VL) reported on Wednesday, citing a researcher from the state-funded Institute for Migrations in Zagreb.

“However, a lack of knowledge of Croatian as well as the lack of programs to facilitate their integration into the Croatian society seem to be main barriers for the arrivals of young South Americans,” Vecernji List said.

Croatia ranks high in the European Union in terms of the quotas of imported foreign workers from outside the EU per population, and Vecernji raised the question whether Croatia is ready to attract foreign students, researchers and foreigners of Croat heritage.

Across the EU, the ratio of foreign workers who came from so-called third countries was 7 per 1,000 inhabitants – and in Croatia this ratio was 12 per 1,000, before the pandemic, Vecernji List said.

In 2021, there were 81,000 foreigners from third countries who were given status of temporary residents in Croatia.

“In this context, the daily highlights the need of Croatia to attract also students, undergraduates and descendants of Croatian emigrants and not only less educated workers, and criticises the state administration for not making this job easier,” Hina said, summarizing Vecernji List.