IHF-HR: "A Form of Slavery: Trafficking in Women in OSCE Member States"
  Country Reports

CROATIA

SPECIAL ISSUES

INTERNATIONAL HELSINKI FEDERATION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

''A FORM OF SLAVERY: TRAFFICKING IN WOMEN IN OSCE MEMBER STATES'' COUNTRY REPORTS:

CROATIA

July 2000

There is not a single provision regarding trafficking in women in the Criminal Law of the Republic of Croatia. The only article that establishes accountability for trafficking in women and pronounces court sentences to organisers of trafficking is article 177 of the Criminal Law, which states that:

“Whoever illegally takes over the border one or more persons, out of his/her self-interest, shall be punished by a fine or sentenced to a one-year prison term”.

While the Criminal Law of the Republic of Croatia does not specify trafficking in women and persons as a criminal act, it is evident from the article above that it does punish illegal border crossings.

The Republic of Croatia is a transit country. Thus persons from the region of Yugoslavia and Bosnia and Herzegovina are illegally transferred to western European countries through the territory of the Republic of Croatia. There are indications that Croatia is partly a receiving country also, however there is nothing publicly known about the issue, and when the police are questioned about the topic the reply is that such cases do not exist in Croatia.

Relevant investigations in Croatia regarding the issue of trafficking have never been carried out, and reports on the topic do not exist. The same could be said for the work of the media and NGOs, as only individual cases have been monitored (for example, when the police detain persons without a visa, citizenship papers, working permit, travel permits and similar documents.)

Trafficking in women is not viewed as a problem in Crotia.  Such cases are not registered as cases of trafficking in persons, but rather as cases of illegal border crossings.

There are no governmental policies or NGO programs dealing with the prevention of trafficking in women in Croatia.

In terms of returning victims of trafficking, persons caught in illegal border crossings in Croatia are accommodated in a shelter in Ježevo, near Zagreb, and deported to the domicile state at a later stage. They are punished for the act of illegal border crossing by a fine in accordance with the Law on Offences. 

There are no support services available for women victims of trafficking, and no research related to the dimensions of trafficking, either by NGOs or public institutions, is available in Croatia.