The numbers indicating mass emigration of people from Slavonia are devastating and are a serious cause for concern.
The number of inhabitants in the county of Posavina, as well as in Vukovar-Srijem County, is decreasing every day, reports Poslovni.hr on September 4, 2017.
Looking for a better living, people are massively emigrating mainly to Germany, Austria and Ireland, but also to Canada and Australia. The Vukovar-Srijem police department registered 2425 temporary departures from the Republic of Croatia in 2016; mostly in the Županja Police Station, where 791 persons reported their departure last year, followed by Vinkovci with 535 registered departures, PS Vrbanja with 392 departures, PS Vukovar with 377, PS Otok with 202 and at the smallest number of departures was registered by Police Station in Tovarnik – 75 and Ilok where 53 people temporarily left the country, reports Glas Slavonije.
The fact that the emigration of people is taking place at such an accelerated rate is supported by the data provided by Vukovar-Srijem County according to which more people emigrated from that region in the first seven months of this year than in the entire last year.
“By July 30, 2017, 2581 registrations for temporary departure abroad were filed,” says a spokesman for the Vukovar-Srijem police department, Domagoj Džigumović. Service of Administrative and Inspection Affairs Vinkovci reported 617 registrations, PS Vukovar 553 and PS Županja 472. The largest outflow relative to 2016 was recorded in the Ilok area where 242 registrations were submitted, almost five times more than last year. According to police station Otok, in the first seven months of this year, 133 people have temporarily left the Republic of Croatia, and, according to PS Tovarnik, 96 people left Tovarnik. Also, residents of Cvelferija are leaving their homes in droves. During this period, 468 registrations were submitted to PS Vrbanja. The actual figure is certainly even bigger as many citizens who left the country haven’t reported their departure to the police.
Devastating figures
The numbers indicating mass emigration of people from Slavonia are devastating and pose a major problem. The president of the Croatian Chamber of Labor, Luka Burilović has also voiced his concern:
“Massive population exodus is the result of Croatia entering the EU and opening up the borders, as well as due to high unemployment rates and young people having trouble finding a job. This problem is particularly pronounced here in Slavonia, which makes me very sad. It is said that around 100-200 people leave this area every week, which is quite a large number. Particularly from this part of eastern Slavonia, where people went through a lot of hardship, including the war,” says Burilović, adding that it is up to him, as the president of the Croatian Chamber of Economy, but mostly up to the Government of the Republic of Croatia to do everything to strengthen the Croatian economy, stop the emigration and encourage the creation of new jobs for young people, and thus, prevent them from leaving Croatia.
Alarming situation
“Today, unlike during the 1960s, mostly highly educated people are leaving the country, which is very bad. Not only are the heads of the family leaving, but they are also taking their whole families with them. We need to find a way to keep our people here, especially in Slavonia, ” Burilović concluded.
Vukovar-Srijem County Prefect Božo Galić called on the Government to exempt from tax the employers who will open new jobs in this area and thus stimulate and motivate the employment of young people. He considers that underdeveloped areas should be treated differently in order to encourage their development. With the new Project Slavonia and other benefit programmes, the Government is expected to put a stop to this negative trend of emigration and restore the position of Slavonia which it deserves.
Translated from Poslovni.hr
