Govt Wants to Prevent Abuse of Asylum Procedures
The government has adopted amendments to the asylum act, which it believes will help prevent the abuse of the right to asylum and streamline the procedures.
According to Interior Minister Dragutin Mate, the amendments introduce international protection in line with the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees.
One of the aims of the amendments is to shorten asylum procedures, as they introduce provisions on shorter appeals periods and commit asylum seekers to stay in asylum seekers' homes.
As a result, asylum seekers will be allowed to get private accommodation only in exceptional circumstances, in which case they will also be eligible for financial assistance.
The amendments eliminate pocket money - the government insists that the asylum seekers have full services available at the asylum seekers home and do not need additional money.
Moreover, Mate explained, asylum seekers will not be allowed to get work immediately like they have so far. Instead, they will have to wait one year from their asylum request.
In line with the amendments, those caught crossing the border illegally will have to make it clear that they want asylum, Mate explained.
Police officers will have the power to accept these requests, which Mate believes will help prevent abuse.
For foreigners granted the status of refugees, the amendments envisage a half-way house, dubbed an "integration house", where they would be allowed to stay for up to a year.
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