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Promise of Australian jobs lures Croatians

An old joke, told in the former Yugoslavia and still told in the countries it consisted of, asked: What is the difference between a smart and a dumb Yugoslav? The difference is that the smart one sends postcards from abroad to the dumb one.

Behind the joke is the ugly fact of decades of discontent in the former Yugoslavia, with poverty and conflict spurring millions to leave in the past century and hundreds of thousands in the past decade and a half.

In Croatia, even though it is almost on the doorstep of EU membership, the urge to leave is still strong. An Australian immigration broker, Trevour Hains-Wesson, has found himself buried under inquiries after he told a small Croatian crowd of opportunities in his country.

Looking for labor to import for a fee, Hains-Wesson told a few seminars in the Adriatic port of Split that Australia had 100,000 job slots for immigrants. Within days he received more than 6,000 calls from people lured by the tale. Hains-Wesson said that the minimum wage was A$50,000 (US$37,000) annually, while sought-after construction workers made twice as much.

"Official stats show that an average immigrant can earn a new, fully stocked four-bedroom house with a swimming pool, two cars and good education for his children after eight years of work," he said.

In the pauperized Croatia, where the average salary is five times less, the picture Hains-Wesson painted caused huge interest.

"What am I to wait for? Now I work like a dog for 2,200 kunas (US$350)," Bernardica Djudjerija, a 46-year-old resident of Split, said.

"It sounds like the country of milk and honey," welder Luka Saric, 27, said.

Marko Katalinic, who installs air-conditioners, noted that Hains-Wesson's firm arranges immigration papers "for the promised land," but does not promise jobs.

"Still, it's a huge thing, because strict Australian immigration requirements are the greatest obstacle to a well-paid job," he added.

Hains-Wesson plans to continue to neighboring countries, with an eye on prospective immigrants from other countries of the former Yugoslavia. His preaching in Split prompted the rightist leader Pero Kovacevic to demand in parliament on Thursday that the police probe "preparations for the mass exodus of Croats" and the Australian's business.

But the police have found nothing on Hains-Wesson, apart from a technicality of a missing temporary residence report -- which was anyway the responsibility of his hotel.

It is also doubtful whether the reaction of the Croat diaspora would cool many heads in a country where, according to a recent survey, 75 percent of the students want to emigrate after graduating.

"The agent offers false promises," the Croat Democratic Union party branch in Australia warned. "In his accounting, an average family would during the course of a lifetime earn five houses, 10 cars and send children to excellent schools."

But Hains-Wesson is adamant: "Australia is re-opening the door to European labor and Croats are among the most respected and sought ... I believe that will also happen with those we help get there."
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