Croatia deports 36 Egyptian nationals on charter flight from Zagreb to Cairo
A total of 36 Egyptian nationals were deported, or forcibly removed from the Republic of Croatia, on a charter flight from Zagreb to Cairo.
The individuals were foreign nationals who had been residing illegally in Croatia. Among them were people who had been criminally prosecuted for human smuggling, CE Report informs via the Interior Ministry of Croatia's official website.
The deportation was carried out under the escort of Croatian police officers, Frontex officials and an official Arabic-language interpreter.
The flight was chartered from the national airline, with the costs of €77,350 covered by European funding from the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF).
The decision to organise a charter flight was based on its estimated financial benefits, as well as the need to carry out the removal of irregular migrants more efficiently and in a more operationally effective manner within the shortest possible time.
In individual forced removals using regular commercial flights, security requirements often mean that two to three police officers must escort each foreign national. In this particular case, the cost of deportations using commercial flights would have amounted to approximately €144,000.
This approach contributes to faster implementation of forced removals and more efficient use of financial resources and police capacities.
The Croatian Police Directorate plans to continue organising charter flights for the forced removal of foreign nationals, particularly to countries to which larger numbers of people need to be returned.
Such flights will be arranged when there is a need to forcibly remove a larger number of people of the same nationality and when a charter flight is considered financially more advantageous and operationally more efficient than individual removals using commercial flights.
This approach aims to ensure faster, more efficient and more cost-effective procedures for the forced removal of irregular migrants from Croatia, while respecting all legal and security standards.
Photo Interior Ministry of Croatia
