Commonfare.net is pleased to announce our first Call for Common Stories! Share your ideas of what a „good“ society means to you, and if your story is selected, Commonfare will send you to the amazing Santarcangelo Festival in Santarcangelo di Romagna, Italy from July 12th to 15th, 2018 as a Commonfare.net blogger. Commonfare will cover the expenses of travel, accommodation and provide a daily allowance for you to enjoy the Festival to the fullest. 

The civil society organizations Are you Syrious (AYS)?, Centre for Peace Studies, and lawyers Sanja Bezbradica Jelavic and Ivo Jelavic held a press conference on Apr 18 and warned about the pressure that the Croatian Ministry of Interior puts on the attorney's office that protects refugees, as well as against the activists of organizations providing legal and humanitarian protection to refugees.

Today, the European Court of Human Rights sent an urgent notification of their decision on an interim measure requiring the Croatian Ministry of Interior to immediately place Madina’s  family in an environment where the family will not be exposed to inhumane or degrading treatment. The Court also emphasizes that they are convinced that Croatia will not deport the family to Serbia or Afghanistan until they have answered the questions submitted by the Court.

This paper is designed to inform EU decision-makers about the increasing restrictions facing independent non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the EU. NGOs are vital to the proper functioning of healthy, rights-respecting democracies operating under the rule of law. Yet the practices, laws and policies of national authorities and sometimes the EU itself are hampering the ability of these organisations to operate – often this is indeed the express aim of national governments. This paper will begin by explaining the role that NGOs play in facilitating democratic participation, upholding the rule of law and respect for fundamental rights. It will then outline the principal obstacles facing NGOs before putting forward recommendations directed at the EU institutions that would allow the EU to preserve the freedoms that NGOs require to perform their tasks and facilitate their development.

Seventeen years after adoption of EU laws that forbid discrimination, immigrants, descendants of immigrants, and minority ethnic groups continue to face widespread discrimination across the EU and in all areas of life – most often when seeking employment. For many, discrimination is a recurring experience. 

On Tuesday, October 3, at 18h in Booksa, the [MIGRENT] publication will be promoted. At the promotion, Bashkim Fazliu (Taste of Home) and Prince Wale Soniyiki (Association of Africans in Croatia, African Cuisine) will present the examples of migrant entrepreneurship and migrant social entrepreneurship in Croatia, while Tina Lee Odinsky-Zec (Zagreb School of Economics and Management) and Hermes Arriaga Sierra (Impact Hub Zagreb) will talk about opportunities and challenges for migrant (social) entrepreneurs in Croatia. Sara Kekuš from the Centre for Peace Studies will moderate the conversation. After the conversation and Q&A session, we will continue networking and socializing with the Taste of Home catering. 

By selling arms to Saudi Arabia, the Republic of Croatia has violated the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty which requires that prior to the export of weapons, a state must first undertake an assessment of the potential risks that the weapons sold will be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, and if the assessment determines that such a risk exists, then arms exports shall not be authorized by the State party. 

Publication "Understanding Racism and Xenophobia" is a new format of the report on racism and xenophobia in Croatia published by CMS for 2013, 2014 and 2015.

A number of representatives of organizations working with migrants, professionals, state officials as well as volunteers helping refugees participated in the conference Volunteering and migration – from good to the best stories took place in Ljublana on 11th and 12th May 2017.

Today the Center for Peace Studies and Human Rights House Zagreb sent an open letter to Prime Minister Plenković warning of the degradation of the National Plan to Combat Discrimination from 2017 to 2022. Below is the full text of the letter.