Author
The authority responsible for accommodation and reception of asylum applicants is the Government Office for Support and Integration of Migrants (Urad vlade za oskrbo in integracijo migrantov, UOIM). The office is an independent authority operating directly under the Slovenian Government and is also responsible for assistance to and integration of beneficiaries of international protection as well as temporary protection holders.
The IPA grants the right to material reception conditions which includes accommodation provided in the Asylum Home or its branch facilities during the whole procedure to all asylum seekers regardless of the procedure they are in,[1] until a final decision on their application becomes enforceable.[2] Applicants who lodge their first request for subsequent application also have the right to material reception conditions until a final decision in the procedure becomes enforceable.[3] Applicants who lodge a second request for a subsequent application do not have the right to material conditions.
Since a Supreme Court decision in 2018, [4] the IPA was amended to confirm that applicants in the Dublin procedure have the same rights as asylum seekers until their actual transfer to another Member State.[5]
Applicants are entitled to material reception conditions by lodging their asylum application; the law makes no distinction between “making” and “lodging” an application in this regard.[6] In practice, from the moment they express the intention to apply and until they have formally lodged their application, asylum seekers are held in the Asylum Home (see Detention of Asylum Seekers).
Applicants also receive an identification card which certifies their status as applicants for international protection in the Republic of Slovenia.[7] Since the amendments of the IPA came to force on 09 November 2021, applicants are no longer allowed to move freely on the territory. Their freedom of movement is limited to the municipality in which they are accommodated.[8] They are informed about this limitation of movement by the Migration directorate upon lodging the application. The limitation does not apply for unaccompanied minors.[9]
According to Article 32 of the Slovene Constitution everyone has the right to freedom of movement. The provisions were submitted to the Constitutional Court for review by parliamentarians in 2022.[10] The decision was not made by the end of the year.
The law provides that applicants who have their own means of subsistence (amounting to the basic minimum monthly income of 421,89€ per person) have to bear all or the proportional share of the cost for their material care,[11] which includes reception or accommodation. They are also not entitled to food, clothes, shoes[12] or a monthly allowance[13]. Asylum seekers must declare their financial resources before they are accommodated in the Asylum Home or its branch. The form regarding their financial resources is part of their accommodation documentation and is filled by the officials of the Migration directorate with the help of an interpreter. The content and the purpose of the form are explained to the asylum seeker and both the official of the Migration directorate and the interpreter have to sign the form together with the asylum seeker.
In practice, there are no particular problems reported regarding the access to reception conditions and individuals do not have to bear all, or the proportional share of the costs.
Accommodated persons are obliged to move out of the reception centre when the decision on their application becomes enforceable.[14] In the case of granted international protection, this is 15 days from the receipt of the decision (see Content of International Protection: Housing). In case of a negative decision, applicants retain all of their reception rights, including the right to live in the reception facility during the appeal (judicial review) procedure. If the negative decision is confirmed by the court, the rejected applicant must move out of the facility and the return procedure is started if they do not have the right to stay in Slovenia.
[1] Article 78(1) IPA.
[2] Article 78(2) IPA.
[3] Article 78(3) IPA.
[4] Supreme Court, Decision Up 10/2018, 12 June 2018.
[5] Article 78(2) IPA.
[6] Article 78(2) IPA.
[7] Article 107 IPA.
[8] Article 78(1), first intendant IPA.
[9] Article 78(7) IPA.
[10] 24.ur, Določbe zakona o tujcih in mednarodni zaščiti v ustavno presojo, available at: https://bit.ly/3Pv1Yq7.
[11] Article 82(3) IPA.
[12] Ibid.
[13] Article 85(1) IPA.
[14] Article 78(2) IPA.