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ZAGREB: Police in Croatia said today that four men were arrested over a racially-motivated attack against foreign workers, which was followed by three similar incidents that left one Nepali seriously injured.
The European Union country of 3.8 million people is struggling to overcome chronic labour shortage as it faces mass emigration and a shrinking population.
Traditionally reliant on seasonal workers from Balkan neighbours, Croatia is increasingly counting on labourers from Nepal, India, the Philippines and elsewhere to fill tens of thousands of jobs notably in construction and its key tourism sector on the Adriatic coast.
Police said today that the four arrested, who are suspected of physically attacking a food-delivery worker in the coastal town of Split, were being investigated over a “hate crime”.
In the attack, which occurred late yesterday, a 41-year foreign national and one attacker sustained minor injuries, a police statement said.
The attack was immediately followed by three other incidents targeting foreign food-delivery workers, also in Split, in which one Nepali was seriously injured.
Another victim was Indian, while the nationalities of the other two were not disclosed.
Police said they continued to search for perpetrators of the three attacks.
In 2023, Croatia provided nearly 120,000 non-EU nationals with work permits, a 40% jump over the figure from the previous year.
This year the figure will be surpassed as nearly 150,000 work permits were issued to non-EU nationals until November.
The number of attacks on foreign workers, notably those making food deliveries has been increasing, police in the capital Zagreb said earlier this year.
In most cases the attacks were not racially-motivated but were rather robberies.
However, migrants have been regularly pilloried online while language barriers and negative attitudes toward outsiders have presented obstacles to the new labour force.
Ethnic Croats comprise more than 90% of Croatia’s population – nearly 80% of whom are Roman Catholics.