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Overall conditions
The Asylum Home is located in a rather isolated area, approximately 20 minutes by bus from the Ljubljana city centre, whereas the Kotnikova Branch Facility is in the city centre. The towns of Logatec and Postojna, where the other two branch facilities are established, are located 30 km and 50 km from Ljubljana respectively.
Applicants are provided three meals per day. Children up to the age of 15 are entitled to two additional intermediate meals.[1] The menu is adapted to special medical or other needs on the basis of a doctor’s certificate or other proof. Religious and other dietary customs are taken into consideration, whenever possible.[2] Asylum seekers in the Asylum Home as well as in all branch facilities also have common kitchens at their disposal in which they can cook for themselves.
The Asylum Home employs social workers, one nurse and 4 contractual doctors who are present in the facility on a daily basis. A psychiatrist visits the Asylum Home on a weekly schedule and is also available to applicants from branch facilities upon appointment. Social workers are available in the branch facilities as well. Medical assistance is mostly organised through appointments at regular clinics and hospitals. Security is provided by personnel of a security company[3]. Legal counselling is provided by the PIC and various other assistance and activities by other NGOs.
The facilities could benefit from more regular employment of cultural mediators and interpreters to help with reception issues and activities, so far only available inconsistently through projects. The number of staff in the facilities is otherwise generally considered sufficient, although it may be lacking during certain periods of time (e.g., due to gaps in implementation of projects, higher number of arrivals). During 2023, some of the needed support was provided by EUAA which was deployed in Slovenia in order to support the improvement of Reception conditions. As part of the operational support, the EUAA provided interpretation services during the year.[4] Operational support was provided by 24 EUAA staff members – 2 coordinators, 7 experts and 15 translators. The staff was supporting UOIM by providing information, accommodating asylum seekers, conducting vulnerability assessments and providing assistance to unaccompanied minors.[5]
The average room surface in the Asylum Home is around 3.75 – 7.50 m2 per applicant[6] and of similar size to the rooms in the branch facilities. Applicants are normally accommodated in rooms for two to six persons. Bathrooms in all facilities are shared. Hygiene and other conditions in the Asylum Home and its branch facilities depend on the number of accommodated persons.
In 2023, overcrowding due to the large number of new arrivals continued and the reception conditions worsened significantly. Although the official capacity of the Asylum Home is around 350, more than 600 persons were accommodated there on a daily basis throughout the year. While the numbers varied through the year, they peaked in August when more than 1,000 people were accommodated on a daily basis. The highest number of applicants accommodated in the Asylum Home was 1,828. Due to lack of capacity, additional containers for accommodation were placed on the premises of the Asylum Home.[7] During that time, people would sleep outside and on hallways.[8] The Ombudsperson reiterated again that the conditions in the Asylum home are not in line with EUAA standards for reception and that they violate the right to personal dignity, privacy, and in some cases personal security as well as raise public health concerns. The Ombudsperson also noted that the conditions can discourage people from waiting for a decision on their application meaning that they infringe on the right to asylum under Art. 18 of the EU Charter. The Ombudsperson urged the Government and the Prime Minister to do everything necessary to ensure additional capacities for accommodation of asylum seekers.[9] Due to lack of capacity, separate accommodation of vulnerable groups such as unaccompanied minors, single women, families, or victims of torture was not possible. Unaccompanied minors, often not identified as such (see also: Screening for vulnerability), were often placed in the same room as adult men in the Asylum home. The Asylum Home was reorganised during the year. The majority of the Asylum Home was used as a reception centre for individuals waiting to lodge the application and only a small part was used for accommodation of asylum seekers. As both groups could move freely on the premises, asylum seekers were not separated from individuals waiting to lodge the application. Since individuals could wait several days to lodge the application and the medical examination is normally performed right before the lodging of the application, this also raised public health concerns. After they lodged their applications, asylum seekers were accommodated in the Asylum Home or one of its branches. After lodging the application vulnerable groups can be accommodated in separate rooms, however not in separate parts of the Asylum home as parts of the Asylum home designated for families and unaccompanied children are used for accommodation of all asylum seekers.[10]
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. In Logatec, some people were first accommodated in containers before being moved to one of the rooms in the separate buildings when they became available.
In 2022, the Ombudsperson visited the Logatec branch facility, where temporary protection beneficiaries and people waiting to lodge their application were accommodated in rooms and containers. Regarding the rooms, the Ombudsperson noted that they were in line with the accommodation standards set out in EASO/EUAA guidelines. People had a lot of outdoor activities; the rooms could be locked and the whole centre was properly cleaned. However, the Ombudsperson concluded that accommodation conditions in Logatec did not reach the minimal standards set out by the EASO/EUAA guidelines when overcrowded. Similar to the above, the situation was especially concerning regarding the right to personal dignity, the right to privacy and the right to personal security. Again, in the opinion of the Ombudsperson, to a certain extent, the conditions contributed to asylum seekers’ high absconding rate. Therefore, the conditions also violated the right to asylum enshrined in Article 18 of the Charter. The Ombudsperson concluded that the conditions were the consequence of lack of capacity. He recommended that additional capacity be guaranteed together with additional staff. The Ombudsperson also recommended that the containers should not be used.[11] The problem of overcrowding and insufficient reception capacities in Logatec continued during 2023. 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.[12]
In Logatec, single women and unaccompanied minors can be accommodated in separate rooms after lodging the application however as asylum seekers and temporary protection holders can move freely on the premises the separation is not strict. Single women are sometimes accommodated in the same room as other families. Unaccompanied minors accommodated in the Student Dormitory Postojna are completely separated from adult asylum seekers.[13]
Lack of adequate reception conditions was also addressed during the 2023 Committee against Torture periodic review. The Committee recommended that the authorities intensify the efforts to reduce overcrowding and improve material conditions in the Asylum Home and Logatec, including by guaranteeing access to adequate social, educational, mental and physical health services. In addition, the Committee noted that the authorities should refrain from applying illegal restrictions on movement. (see: Detention)[14]
In April 2024 the new reception and accommodation centre for unaccompanied minors was opened in Postojna and the pilot project in Student Dormitory Postojna was finished. (see: Reception of unaccompanied minors).
Activities in the centres
Many NGOs and humanitarian organisations provide support in the Asylum Home and its branches on a regular basis. PIC lawyers are available to asylum seekers for legal aid and assistance. ADRA carried out different activities and workshops. Slovene Philanthropy conducted different workshops on integration-related topics, provided support to vulnerable groups and conducted individual psycho-social support. Zavod Emma provided psycho-social counselling as well as workshops on sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). Društvo Ključ carried out informational sessions (PATS), workshops and individual counselling on trafficking of human beings. Slovenian Red Cross carried out different activities including activities related to tracking family members.[15]
Asylum seekers also have a room in the Asylum Home dedicated for prayer and practicing their religion.
In the branch Logatec, a private company Projekt Ambient, based on the public call, also offered free psycho-social support to temporary protection holders. The project was concluded in June 2023.[16]
One shortcoming observed in the Slovenian system is that pre-school children do not have access to regular kindergartens and families can, in this regard, only rely on NGO activities, which may not always be available or sufficient. In 2021, the child day-care activities were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic and were not implemented again in 2022 or 2023 although other activities resumed.
In the Student Dormitory in Postojna, activities were mostly carried out by the staff of the facility; various educational, cultural and sports activities were organised by them in the dormitory and outside. Children also attended Slovenian and literacy classes organised by Zavod Znanje Postojna. Various other smaller activities and assistance were implemented by other organisations. PIC lawyers visited the facility to provide legal counselling upon prior appointment.
Average duration of stay
Considering that most persons applying for asylum in Slovenia abscond – 6,825 individuals absconded in 2023 out of a total of 7,261 applicants (i.e., approximately 89%) – usually within a short time after lodging their application, the turnover in the reception facilities is high. Applicants in the regular procedure often wait for a decision for over six months, sometime over one year or longer. The duration of Dublin procedures varies considerably and may be quick or take several months or longer. The average duration of accommodation in 2023 per person was 24 days. The average duration of stay in the Asylum Home was 16 days, in Kotnikova 204 days, in Logatec 71 days, and 52 days in the Student Dormitory in Postojna.[17]
[1] Article 14 Decree on the methods and conditions for ensuring the rights of applicants for international protection.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Information provided by the UOIM.
[4] 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.
[5] Information provided by the UOIM, March 2024.
[6] European Migration Network (EMN), Focused Study: The Organisation of Reception Facilities for Asylum Seekers in different Member states, Slovene national contribution, 2013.
[7] Information provided by the UOIM, March 2024.
[8] MMC, Ljubljanski azilni dom lahko sprejme največ 350 ljudi, trenutno jih je tam že 1200, 14 September 2023, available in Slovenian at: https://bit.ly/3OVMa0N.
[9] The Ombudsperson, Sporočilo javnosti o ugotovitvah Varuha glede razmer v azilnem domu v Ljubljani, 13 September 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/4bU0LnB.
[10] Observation by the PIC.
[11] Obmudsman, Poročilo z obiska nastanitvenega centra v Logatcu, 7.0-4/2022-4-NAB.
[12] Observation by the PIC.
[13] Observation by the PIC.
[14] U.N. Committee against Torture: Concluding observations on the fourt periodic report of Slovenia, 7 December 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/3OY4B5k.
[15] Information provided by the UOIM, March 2024.
[16] Ibid.
[17] Information provided by UOIM, March 2024.