Author
The Government Office for the Support and Integration of Migrants (UOIM) is responsible for the reception and accommodation of asylum applicants 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 applicants until their application is formally lodged, there is a lapse of time in which they do not have access to all of the services.
A new reception and accommodation centre for the systemic accommodation of unaccompanied minors was opened in April 2024. In 2024 unaccompanied children were therefore accommodated in the new centre in Postojna or in Logatec. The new centre can accommodate up to 70 unaccompanied children. During 2024, 109 unaccompanied children were accommodated in the centre.[1]
Individuals can move freely on the premises of the Asylum Home or its branch. Food is provided to them in the dining area.
In 2024, the number of arrivals decreased, however due to lack of accommodation centres, the reception conditions in the Asylum Home did not improve significantly in comparison to previous years (see Reception conditions).
During the first half of 2024, the EUAA was deployed in Slovenia in order to provide support in improvement of Reception conditions.[2]
In 2022, the centre in Logatec was reorganised in order to accommodate applicants for temporary protection and temporary protection holders. 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 applicants. Asylum applicants and individuals waiting to lodge the application for international protection were accommodated in Logatec during the year, including unaccompanied minors, single women and families. Due to lack of capacity in the main buildings of the Logatec accommodation centre individuals were also accommodated in containers.
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 newly established accommodation centre for unaccompanied minors in Postojna or in some cases in Logatec. 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.[3]
Large-scale centres are used for the accommodation of asylum applicants in Slovenia.
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] Official statistics provided by UOIM, March 2025.
[2] EUAA: Operational plan 2022 agreed by the European Union Agency for Asylum and the Republic of Slovenia, December 2022, available here.
[3] Article 16(7) IPA.