Author
The Government Office for the Support and Integration of Migrants (UOIM) is responsible for the reception and accommodation of asylum seekers in Slovenia. After the preliminary procedure, applicants are bought to the Asylum Home or its branch in Logatec where they must wait to lodge the application for international protection. Before lodging the application, individuals are accommodated in the pre-reception area of the Asylum Home or in the separate building or containers 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 the pre-reception area 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 the application they can be processed as foreigners in line with the Foreigners Act meaning that they can be returned or readmitted to another country. Since they are not asylum seekers before lodging the application, they do not have access to all of the services.
The Asylum Home security personnel allow them to walk in front of the Asylum Home a couple of times per day. Food is brought to them by the social workers. The rooms of the pre-reception area have limited space and do not allow for privacy or for the separate accommodation of vulnerable groups such as unaccompanied minors, single women, families, or victims of torture. The reception capacity of the pre-reception area is approximately 36 persons. However, during a large influx of persons, a higher number of persons is often accommodated. Due to the high numbers of new arrivals and the activation of the temporary protection due to the Ukrainian conflict the Asylum Home was reorganised in a de facto pre-reception centre in the beginning of 2022. Applicants waiting to lodge the application for international protection were accommodated in the Asylum Home together with asylum seekers, who represented the minority among the accommodated population during the year. Although asylum seekers were accommodated in a separate part of the Asylum Home there was no physical barrier between them and applicants waiting to lodge the application as they were able to move freely on the premises of the Asylum Home.
Due to the arrival of people fleeing Ukraine the centre in Logatec was reorganised in order to accommodate applicants for temporary protection and temporary protection holders. A few accommodated asylum seekers were moved to the Asylum Home in Ljubljana and Logatec was only used as a reception and accommodation centre for newly arrived individuals. Due to lack of capacity individuals were also accommodated in the containers. Logatec served as the only reception centre for people fleeing Ukraine. After their arrival in Logatec they could move into private accommodation or another accommodation centre. Due to lack of appropriate accommodation spaces for unaccompanied minors, single women and families, asylum seekers were also accommodated in Logatec, together with Ukrainians, during the year.
After individuals lodge the application, they are accommodated in the Asylum Home or its branch. The decision is made by social workers of the Asylum Home based on the individual circumstances (e.g. family, unaccompanied minor, single woman, other detected vulnerabilities etc.) of the applicants, as well as availability. In practice, single men are accommodated in the Asylum Home or its branch in Kotnikova. Women and families are also accommodated in the Asylum Home or Logatec. Unaccompanied minors can be accommodated in the Asylum Home, Logatec or the Student Dormitory in Postojna. The practice changed during the year and depended heavily on the number of new arrivals of both asylum seekers and temporary protection holders. Before the unaccompanied minor is accommodated in one of the centres, the UOIM must obtain the opinion of the social services regarding the suitability of the centre.[1]
Large-scale centres are used for the accommodation of asylum seekers in Slovenia. The Student Dormitory Postojna, where unaccompanied minors can be accommodated, is an institutional care arrangement where a special part of the student dormitory is used for unaccompanied minors.
After the 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 its branch until the decision of the court becomes final.
[1] Article 16(7) IPA.