Update on the migrant crisis
Croatia has agreed to pay 5.9 million Euros to keep the refugees in Turkey, and all 28 EU member states will pay 3 billion Euros in total, it was decided at the meeting of the EU Council in Brussels on February 3, 2016. Večernji list reports that Croatia will pay its amount from the national budget while the European Commission will pay one billion Euros from the central EU budget. Among individual countries, the greatest share will be paid by Germany, 427 million Euros, while Malta will pay the least, 1.1 million Euros. Contributions of each country have been calculated according to gross national income ratios.
According to the initial proposal, Croatia was supposed to pay 7.38 million Euros, but the final amount is lower because the amount which will be paid directly from the EU budget has been increased from 500 million Euros to one billion Euros. The goal is to help Syrian refugees in Turkey, so they would decide against continuing with their unsafe journey toward Greece and other EU countries. “We are constantly working to stem the flow of migrants to Europe. The agreement between the EU and Turkey is a vital part of that”, said Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, whose country holds the presidency of the EU Council.
The initial decision to pay 3 billion Euros to keep the refugees in Turkey was made at the level of EU prime ministers and presidents in November, but an agreement on the detailed distribution was not possible until now because the Italians wanted for the EU to pay more money from the central EU budget.
As reported by Jutarnji list. in the last few weeks, Slovenia has returned to Croatia 80 migrants who had confirmed during the registration process that they did not intend to seek asylum in Austria or Germany and did not meet requirements for entry into the Schengen area since they did not come from war affected areas. Some of the returned migrants have later tried again to enter Slovenia. Slovenian police sources say they expected that the migrants would be transferred by the Croatian police back to Serbia. Slovenian police said that there were just a few such isolated cases and that the cooperation with Croatia at the police level is proceeding well and in accordance with agreements.
In the last four days, some of the migrants could be seen on the streets of Zagreb. It has been reported that some of them spend their nights sleeping at the main railway station. Among the migrants deported from Slovenia to Croatia, there was a group of Afghans who wanted to seek asylum in Belgium. “Police brought us here from the border. They have told us we can stay in Croatia for a month”, said Mohammed, one of the refugees. They can either apply for asylum in Croatia or be deported back to Serbia. According to unofficial figures, about 50 migrants are currently accommodated in a centre for foreigners in Zagreb, and they all have to leave Croatia within 10 to 30 days.
