Croatia's Human Rights Ombudswoman Tena Simonovic-Einwalter said in her annual report that her office received about 3,000 complaints from citizens in 2022, mostly in connection with the right to health, discrimination and the justice system.

In her analysis of the state of human rights and freedoms in Croatia last year, the ombudswoman listed as many as 170 recommendations to increase the protection of human rights in the country.

She noted that the largest number of complaints concerned the right to health, with citizens complaining about inadequate and untimely medical treatment, omissions in providing patients with information, inadequate communications from doctors, and the lack of clarity in steps taken after patients’ complaints.

The ombudswoman issued a recommendation to the Health Ministry to provide the necessary information to women seeking a termination of the pregnancy as well as available and affordable healthcare where an abortion is permitted under the law.

Largest number of asylum applications since 2004

The section of the report on asylum seekers and illegal migrants says that although there was a drop in the number of complaints about “push-backs” of migrants across the border, there were still reports of such incidents and of migrants being denied the right to formally apply for international protection.

“In 2022, the largest number of applications for international protection was recorded since 2004, when the first Asylum Act was adopted. During the year 12,827 persons applied for it, including 10,087 at border police stations and 137 at airport police stations,” the report says.

Commenting on the report for Hina, the Centre for Peace Studies (CMS) said: “The extremely low number of international protection applications approved is the tradition of the Ministry of the Interior. According to official statistics from the Ministry, Croatia has provided international protection to as few as 1,039 persons in the last 12 years. This trend continued last year when out of the total of 12,972 asylum applications received only 21 persons were granted protection,” said Antonia Pindulic from the CMS.

She also commented on last week’s report by Amnesty International, which shows that Croatia has continued to treat illegal migrants violently.

“The Amnesty International report provides a valuable insight into the state of human rights, and it will certainly have to be taken into consideration by other countries when assessing how safe Croatia is for refugees. Refugees still face illegal expulsions, torture and inhumane treatment, while investigations of criminal offences are ineffective,” Pindulic said, adding that the relevant Croatian authorities should stop ignoring such reports.

In her report, the human rights ombudswoman noted that a long-awaited national plan for the  protection and promotion of human rights and prevention of discrimination was not adopted last year, even though the old one had expired back in 2016. Its action plans are not ambitious enough because they do not include specific and adequate measures, the report says.

Roma are the most discriminated group in Croatia

Roma are the most discriminated ethnic group in Croatia, “which is not surprising given the marginalisation and discrimination they face and the insufficient policies to include the Roma in society,” the report says.

“Asked which groups face discrimination the most, citizens continue to say that it is Roma (18%) and Serbs (3%). Statistics on social distancing show that as many as 55% of respondents believe that most Roma live on welfare benefits and do not want to work, slightly over a quarter think that Roma working in hospitality would put off many customers, while nearly a quarter said that if they had their own business hiring Roma would be a problem”, according to the report.

The report further cites segregation of Roma children in schools, Roma being denied entry into some cafes in northwestern Croatia, and the problem of exercising the right to bilingualism.

The ombudswoman’s human rights report will be formally presented on Tuesday.