General

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The decision on detention of asylum applicants is taken by the Migration directorate or the UOIM. Asylum seekers can be detained in the Foreigners Centre or in the Asylum Home.[1] Most asylum seekers are generally not formally detained.

Source: Official statistics provided by the Migration directorate, March 2026.

Asylum applicants detained in the Foreigners Centre can be subject to the same measures as foreigners if they violate the rules of the Foreigners Centre.[2] This means that they can be subject to solitary confinement,[3] prohibited to attend the activities in the centre, or have their rights limited (for example: they can lose their privileges regarding TV and radio, exists from the Foreigners centre etc).[4] In 2025, the Police issued 25 warnings and subjected one asylum seeker to solitary confinement .[5]

In the past detained asylum applicants struggled to obtain legal help and representation from refugee counsellors.[6] In 2025, 19 asylum applicants were detained by the UOIM and 9 by the Migration directorate.[7] In practice, detained asylum applicants can have trouble accessing the help of refugee counsellors to lodge the judicial review. (see: Legal assistance for judicial review of detention).

Apart from asylum applicants, the Foreigners Centre also detains aliens in return procedures, which is the main purpose of the institution. In 2025, 226 aliens were detained throughout the year. During the year 2 children and 0 unaccompanied children were detained. The highest number of detainees were nationals of Morocco, Albania, and Algeria. At the end of the year, 16 individuals were detained in the Foreigners Centre.[8]

A regime of de facto detention is applied to all newly arrived asylum applicants. Upon arrival in the Asylum Home, applicants are informed they are not allowed to leave the premises until they lodge their application. In general, individuals had to wait from 3 to up to 20 days to lodge the application in 2025. If they leave the premises of the Asylum Home before lodging their application, they are considered as foreigners under the Foreigners act, which means that they can be channelled through the return procedure or readmitted to another country. They have to sign a statement according to which they were informed about the consequences of leaving the asylum home.

Although de facto detained a large number of applicants absconded before lodging their application. In 2025, 28,200 individuals expressed the intention to lodge an application for international protection, but only 4,172 applications were lodged.[9]

Detention itself does not have an impact on the overall quality of the asylum procedure. According to Article 48 IPA, detained asylum applicants’ applications should be prioritised, yet it is not clear to what degree this provision is respected in practice as statistics on the prioritised procedures are not collected by the Migration directorate.

In 2025, 35 individuals expressed their intention to apply for asylum in the Foreigners Centre.[10]

[1]           Article 84 IPA.

[2]           Article 84(10)-(12) IPA.

[3]           Article 77 Foreigners Act.

[4]           Article 76.c(2) Foreigners Act.

[5]           Official statistics provided by the Police, February 2026.

[6]           For further information on this practice, see AIDA, Country Report Slovenia – 2021 Update, May 2022.

[7]           Official statistics provided by the Migration directorate, March 2026.   

[8]           Official statistics provided by the Police, February 2026..

[9]           Official statistics provided by the Police and the Migration directorate, March 2026.

[10]          Official statistics provided by the Police, February 2026.