Irene Broz reports for Caritas on February 10, 2017 on life inside a Croatian refugee reception centre.
Hotel Porin, a large socialist style hotel on the outskirts of Zagreb, serves as a reception centre for asylum seekers. It’s a large concrete building surrounded by a park. This time of the year it’s covered in snow.
The hotel is currently at full capacity, hosting more than 600 people. Some ‘guests’ are stranded there as a consequence of the EU and Turkey agreement to close all borders on the South eastern European refugee route. Some have arrived through the EU relocation scheme. Others have been returned from Austria.
Living conditions are adequate. People live in separate rooms and there are common spaces where they can socialise or participate in trainings and other leisure activities.
Read Irene’s full account here.
