Author
The Government Office for the Support and Integration of Migrants (UOIM) is responsible for the reception and accommodation of asylum seekers in Slovenia. After the preliminary procedure, applicants are bought to the Asylum Home or its branch in Logatec where they must wait to lodge their application for international protection. In the meantime, individuals are accommodated in the Asylum Home or its branch in Logatec. Although, since 2022, they are no longer locked in the Asylum Home or the houses in Logatec and nothing prevents them from absconding, applicants are not allowed to leave premises of the Asylum Home or Logatec and are therefore de facto detained. In case they leave the premises of the Asylum Home or its branch before lodging their application, they can be processed as foreigners under the Foreigners Act, which means that they can be returned or readmitted to another country. Considering that individuals are not considered asylum seekers until their application is formally lodged, there is a lapse of time in which they do not have access to all of the services while accommodated at the Asylum Home or in Logatec. Before lodging the application, due to lack of proper identification procedure (see: Screening for vulnerability) unaccompanied minors were often placed in the Asylum Home, which is not an appropriate facility for vulnerable groups, as they were not identified as unaccompanied minors during the police procedure.
Individuals can move freely on the premises of the Asylum Home or its branch. Food is provided to them in the dining area.
In 2023, due to a large increase of arrivals, the reception conditions in the Asylum Home worsened significantly. Due to lack of capacity, separate accommodation of vulnerable groups such as unaccompanied minors, single women, families, or victims of torture was not possible. (See: Reception conditions)
During 2023, the EUAA was deployed in Slovenia in order to provide support in improvement of Reception conditions.[1]
Since 2022, the centre in Logatec is reorganised in order to accommodate applicants for temporary protection and temporary protection holders. Nonetheless, due to lack of capacity, asylum seekers and individuals waiting to lodge the application for international protection were accommodated there during the year, including unaccompanied minors, single women and families. Individuals were also accommodated in containers. In the beginning of 2024, the decision was made to move temporary protection holders from Logatec to other UOIM capacities for temporary protection holders around the country in order to free up capacity for asylum seekers.
After individuals lodge their application, they are accommodated in the Asylum Home or its branch in Logatec. The decision is made by social workers of the Asylum Home based on the individual circumstances of the applicant (e.g., family, unaccompanied minor, single woman, other detected vulnerabilities, etc.,) as well as availability. In practice, single men are accommodated in the Asylum Home or its branch in Kotnikova. Women and families are accommodated in Logatec. Unaccompanied minors can be accommodated in the Asylum Home, Logatec or the Student Dormitory in Postojna. The practice changed during 2023 and depended heavily on the number of new arrivals of both asylum seekers and temporary protection holders. After lodging the application, the UOIM must obtain the opinion of the social services regarding the suitability of the centre, before the unaccompanied minor is accommodated in one of the centres.[2]
Large-scale centres are used for the accommodation of asylum seekers in Slovenia. The Student Dormitory Postojna, where unaccompanied minors can be accommodated, is an institutional care arrangement where a special part of the student dormitory is used for unaccompanied minors. Up to 22 unaccompanied minors can be accommodated at the same time. An accommodation centre for unaccompanied minors was not established in 2023, meaning that during the year unaccompanied minors were accommodated in the Asylum Home and its branch Logatec where they could not be separated from adults and individuals waiting to lodge the application. The new reception and accommodation centre for systemic accommodation of unaccompanied minors was opened in April 2024.
After an individual is granted international protection, they need to leave the accommodation centre within 15 days of receiving the decision. If they are able to obtain private accommodation within this timeframe, they can move outside the reception centre. If they are not able to secure private housing, they are accommodated in the integration house in Maribor or Ljubljana. If the applicant receives a negative decision, they can continue to reside in the Asylum Home or one of its branches until the decision of the court becomes final.
[1] EUAA: Operational plan 2022 agreed by the European Union Agency for Asylum and the Republic of Slovenia, December 2022, available at: https://bit.ly/48AsXJh.
[2] Article 16(7) IPA.