Author
Asylum seekers are mostly detained in the Foreigners Centre, located in Postojna, and more rarely, in the Asylum Home, located in Ljubljana.
The Foreigners Centre is a specialised facility under the jurisdiction of the Police. It is a closed centre in which detention of third-country nationals for the purpose of return procedures is carried out. When the asylum seekers are detained in the Foreigners Centre, they are not separated from other third country nationals.
Currently, the Foreigners Centre has a maximum capacity of 180 places. By the end of 2023, only 11 foreigners were detained in the Foreigners Centre in the return procedure. In 2023, 264 individuals were detained in the Foreigners Centre.[1]
In practice, asylum seekers are not detained in police stations, except for a short time during the initial police procedure, which rarely exceeds 12 hours. Asylum applicants are not detained in prisons or in other regular detention facilities. Asylum seekers are also not detained in border or airport transit zones.[2]
In 2023, as in 2022, only one border transit zone was in use. The Jože Pučnik Airport in Ljubljana has the capacity to hold 18 people while in the transit zone. In 2023, 69 foreigners were detained in the transit zone in Ljubljana.[3] Only foreigners can be detained in the transit zone, although not on the basis of the IPA. Once an individual expresses their intent for international protection, they are no longer detained in the transit zone, but brought to the Asylum home or its branch facilities. Asylum seekers are not detained in the transit zone and, if they do apply for asylum from a transit zone, their application is not processed there[4] (see Access to the territory and push backs).
[1] Official statistics provided by the Police, March 2024.
[2] Observation by the PIC.
[3] Official statistics provided by the Police, March 2024.
[4] Observation by the PIC.