Croatia Fails to Rise to COVID-19 Challenge for Zagreb Homeless

These instructions were printed on a small flyer distributed by the Croatian Homeless Network (Hrvatska mreža za beskućnike), which proved crucial for the homeless population of Zagreb in the early days of the pandemic, when they served as a rare and valuable source of information.

The homeless do not have easy access to radio or television and some do not own a cell phone, so in the first days of the pandemic many did not know exactly what was happening. This is why the role of the aforementioned Croatian Homeless Network, along with the Fighter Association (Udruga Fajter) and other NGOs and groups working with the homeless was of such importance.

On February 25, the first case of coronavirus in Croatia was confirmed. Prior to that, the country was, like many in Europe, observing the pandemic from a distance with increasing alarm. Less than a month after the first case, on March 22, public transport was suspended, as was all travel between cities and counties, and the country went into partial lockdown.

Zvonko Mlinar of the Croatian Homeless Network explained to BIRN what happened in the first days of the pandemic. Since it knew the homeless were particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus, his organisation and other NGOs working with this section of the population immediately asked the Ministry of Demography, Family, Youth and Social Policy (which was later, after the July election, merged into one mega-ministry of Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy) to activate the Homeless Winter Weather Shelter Plan (Plan zbrinjavanja beskućnika u zimskim uvjetima).

This plan, which the ministry activates every winter when temperatures begin to drop, stipulates that all shelters in Croatia either need to expand their...