Ljubljana related
STA, 23 January 2019- Slovenian police officers detected a total of 9,149 illegal crossings of the state border last year, which is almost a five-fold increase compared to the year before (1,934). The biggest increase was recorded with the citizens of Pakistan, the police and the Interior Ministry have announced on their websites.
In addition to Pakistanis, the biggest number of persons who were caught crossing the national border illegally were from Afghanistan and Algeria.
As it had been expected, the number of illegal crossings of the border increased significantly in April and May, mostly because of the more favourable weather and a new route opening up across Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The police have noted for the STA that the number of illegal crossings of the border did not mean that the same number of different persons had committed the act.
It is possible that one person gets caught crossing the border illegally more than one time, the police said, adding that the Interior Ministry had no information about how many persons had actually crossed the border illegally in 2018.
The number of persons returned to Slovenia by foreign authorities has been increasing lately, in particular on the border with Italy. A majority of them are foreigners who leave asylum seeker centres and try to reach their destination countries.
A majority of foreigners who cross the border illegally within the Schengen system still come from Italy, but their number has been decreasing. The number of entries from Austria has meanwhile been increasing.
The Interior Ministry has granted international protection to 102 asylum seekers last year. At the moment, there are a total of 274 asylum seekers in Slovenia, while there are 640 persons who have been granted international protection.
Number of illegal crossings of the border in 2018 by citizenship
citizenship number of crossings
--------------------------------------
Pakistan 2,711
Afghanistan 1,066
Algeria 913
Iran 797
Syria 708
Iraq 554
Morocco 397
Turkey 260
Bangladesh 221
India 201
Kosovo 135
other 1,186
--------------------------------------
total 9,149
Source: Police
Number of persons returned to the Slovenian authorities
and to foreign authorities in 2018
country returned to returned to
Slovenian authorities foreign authorities
---------------------------------------------------------------
Italy 351 68
Austria 37 22
Croatia 14 4,653
Hungary 19 5
airports 178 36
---------------------------------------------------------------
total 599 4,784
Source: Police
STA, 16 January 2019 - Migration flows are becoming increasingly important for the Slovenian economy, the central bank says in its monthly bulletin. Banka Slovenije notes a workforce shortage for occupations requiring intermediate qualifications, meaning that employers have started to hire foreign citizens.
"With Slovenians moving away, the hiring of foreigners has preserved a positive net migration since 2015."
Related: Foreigners now hold 10% of the jobs in Slovenia
"However, on average the structure of the foreign worker population in terms of education and vocation is poorer than that of domestic workers."
Unless Slovenia starts producing higher value added and introduces direct measures to prevent brain drain, the country's productivity growth could become too low to keep up with the most developed countries, and the effects of an ageing population all the more pronounced, Banka Slovenije said.
Brain drain is lost potential for the state that has invested into the education of highly-trained work force now leaving the country, it added.
Related: 1 in 8 residents of Slovenia is now a resident
The central bank believes brain drain happens for a number of reasons, among them a relatively low value added of a large part of the economy.
Also touching on exports, the bulletin says that the international environment is becoming less advantageous for Slovenia's exporters, as growth in the EU as well as globally has been slowing down.
Although the estimate of economic growth for Slovenia's trade partners is somewhat lower than in 2018, the outlook still indicates "solid conditions" for the exporting companies.
STA, 8 January 2019 - The Koper Science and Research Centre (Znanstveno-Raziskovalno Središče Koper) has won a EUR 2.8m project as part of the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme to study and help overcome the obstacles to the integration of migrant children into European societies.
The three-year project will run until the end of 2021, the Koper centre said in a press release on Tuesday.
This is the first Horizon 2020 research project in the field of social sciences that will be led by a Slovenian centre, said the Koper centre, which was picked among 30 bidders from all over Europe.
The project entitled Migrant Children and Migrant Communities in the Changing Europe will study the inclusion of migrant children in the societies of European countries from the perspective of the child.
Based on field studies carried out in ten countries, recommendations for legislative changes and political measures will be made. Computer applications featuring tools aimed at improving the integration of children into the society will be developed for use in almost all EU countries.
Field research will be conducted in primary schools and high schools, migrant centres and asylum centres in Slovenia, Austria, Spain, the UK, Denmark, Poland, Italy, France, Greece and Turkey.
Researchers will develop various computer apps for teachers, migrant children and local children to promote multiculturalism and dialogue.
The Koper centre will cooperate on the project with three other Slovenian institutions - the Peace Institute, the Faculty of Computer and Information Sciences, and the Faculty of Design.
STA, 18 December 2018 - Slightly over 2,800 people requested international protection in Slovenia so far this year. Although Slovenia is not the target country for most migrants, the number of asylum requests increased by 10% compared to 2017, the government Office for the Support and Integration of Migrants (Urad Vlade Republike Slovenije za oskrbo in integracijo migrantov) said on Tuesday, International Migrants Day.
Data show that 255 asylum seekers reside in the country at the moment, as well as nearly 550 of those who already have international protection.
Since it gained independence in 1991, Slovenia approved international protection to just under 810 foreigners.
The biggest challenge for the office and a top priority for 2019 is finding solutions to provide housing for unaccompanied minors. The office will also work on an integration strategy next year.
Talking to the press today, office director Mojca Špec Potočar said that the most frequent question the office gets is whether Slovenia was really setting up registration centres for migrants.
She said that such centres would only be set up if the police deem it necessary. Moreover, the temporary facilities would be set up in order to allow the police to conduct the necessary procedures and would not serve as a housing solution. In fact, the migrants would stay there for a maximum of 72 hours.
At the Ljubljana Asylum Centre, the office hosted a ceremony to mark International Migrants Day. The event featured asylum seekers, who talked about their lives and their hopes for the future.
The Educational Research Institute also held a press conference today, expressing criticism that education of migrant children is too focused only on language skills and that there are poor systemic links between formal and informal education.
Researcher Alenka Gril presented the findings of Sirius, a Europe-wide study. She also praised a project dubbed Challenges of Intercultural Cohabitation developing an integration model across 95 schools and kindergartens.
Meanwhile, Slovenian Philanthropy, a charity, called for a new migration strategy, noting that Slovenia drafted the 2010-2020 Strategy on Economic Migrations nearly a decade ago and the 2002 Resolution on Migration Policies nearly twenty years ago.
The NGO also welcomed Slovenia's decision to join the UN Global Compact for Migration.
STA, 18 December 2018 - The number of jobs created in Slovenia increased to 885,700 in October with one in ten of the jobs filled by foreigners, fresh data from the Statistics Office show.
The number of people in employment in the country increased by 0.9% from November and by 3.2% on the same period a year ago.
More than half of those in jobs were men, their number rising by 0.8% from September to 486,600. The number of employed women rose by 1% to 399,000.
Manufacturing created most new jobs, the number of those employed there rising by 4.1% to over 8,000.
Almost 10% of all people in employment in Slovenia were foreigners. Their number rose by 19.5% in a year to 87,700. This is up 2% from September.
Most foreigner workers were from Bosnia-Herzegovina (42,600), Serbia (10,800), Croatia (7,500), Kosovo (7,100) and Macedonia (6,000).
Most were employed in the construction industry (23,400), manufacturing (20,300) and in transport and storage (14,800).
STA, 17 December 2018 - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec said during questions time in parliament on Monday that record keeping on foreigners in the country should be more detailed, so that foreigners will not be just numbers and that any abuse of the welfare system would be prevented.
Šarec was responding to a question by MP Zmago Jelinčič of the opposition National Party (SNS), who wanted to know how many foreigners are currently in the country, how many of them have working permits, where do they work and how many relatives each foreigner with a working permit has brought to the country.
Jelinčič said that by agreeing with the UN Global Compact for Migration Slovenia had opened the door wide to even more illegal migrants.
He said that one channel of illegal migration was Albanians coming to the country and the other were illegal migrants arriving through student or working visas, and shell companies.
Related: 1 in 8 residents of Slovenia is an immigrant
Data show that foreigners from Turkey, Pakistan and India are founding or buying companies with no employees in Slovenia, Jelinčič said.
The illegal migrants who come to the country either go further west or get a job, an address and request for social transfers, which they receive.
Jelinčič asked Šarec if he was aware of such abuses of the system and how the government plans to act against "this type of crime and illegal migration."
The prime minister presented official statistics, saying that 172,073 foreigners had a residence permit in Slovenia on 30 November, of whom 27,666 people were from the European Economic Area and Switzerland, and 14,407 from third countries.
According to the latest figures by the Employment Service, a total of 39,260 working permits have been issued this year.
The prime minister explained that not all citizens of third countries who live in Slovenia need an additional permit to get a job, start a business or work in Slovenia in addition to the work and residence permit.
He said that it was difficult to check whether a person actually lives at their address and that changes were absolutely needed here.
Related: The places where foreigners live in Slovenia and where they come from
"More will need to be done to keep good and accurate records, so that people will not be just numbers, which allows for abuses of the system, especially with welfare benefits," Šarec said.
On 30 November, the number of valid temporary residence permits due to family reunification stood at 11,692, Šarec said, adding that no records were kept on the family relations of the foreigners who receive temporary residence permits due to family reunification.
Šarec said that 18,600 foreigners received child benefits this year, which is 6.1% of all rightful claimants.
Jelinčič said that the UN spoke of 244,800 migrants in the country and the OECD of 340,000 people who were not born in Slovenia, so he proposed a parliamentary discussion on the issue. The National Assembly will decide on this on Wednesday.
The Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia (SURS) has pulled together some data and made a few observations ahead of International Migrants Day on December 18.
The headline figure is that one in eight residents of Slovenia is an immigrant, with up to 250,000 (12.1% of the population) people being foreign-born, although just over half of these (137,000) now have Slovenian citizenship. Moreover, some of these individuals were born as Slovenian citizens (i.e. born to Slovenian parents abroad), while others became so by naturalisation. In addition, not all foreign citizens in Slovenia are classed as immigrants, as among the roughly 122,000 residents of the country with foreign citizenship about 8,600 (7%) were born in Slovenia, and so not immigrants.
In terms of country of origin, most immigrants, 86%, are from other members of the former Yugoslavia, followed by Germany (7,300), Italy (4,100) and the Russian Federation (3,000). The most common non-European countries of birth are China (1,000), the United States (800), and Argentina and Canada (400 each).
The number of immigrants is rising, and has been for decades. A census in 1948 found that just 5.5% of those living in Slovenia were born outside its borders. In 2002 this figure was 8.5%, and in 2018 it had risen to 12.1%. Overall, there are slightly more foreign men than foreign women in Slovenia (57% vs 43%), although this is mainly due to the greater imbalance seen in the 2000s, when roughly two men came to Slovenia for every woman. The figures for recent arrivals are much more balanced.
Finally, SURS notes that the average immigrant to Slovenia is a man with upper secondary education, citizen of Slovenia, born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, aged almost 49 years who first immigrated to Slovenia in the 1990s.
You can learn more about the data by visiting SURS here, where you’ll find many other links and figures of interest about the country.
Related: The places where foreigners live in Slovenia and where they come from
STA, 10 December 2018 - Slovenia was among more than 150 UN member countries that endorsed the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration at an inter-governmental conference in Marrakesh on Monday.
Heading Slovenia's delegation at the two-day inter-governmental conference, Interior Ministry State Secretary Sandi Čurin said the document was not ideal, but it was a good compromise designed to enhance international cooperation in all aspects of migration.
"The agreement is a framework that offers guidance, recommendations how to form national policies in the field of migration. The standards therein are largely already part of European policies and legislation," Čurin told the STA over the phone from Morocco.
The agreement was not joined by 40 countries, including Slovenia's neighbours Austria, Hungary and Italy, but Čurin does not see this as a problem for Slovenia, because the agreement's key points have been framed as part of EU legislation.
"Like I was saying, the agreement will in no way affect national legislation, at least not in European countries," he said.
"The agreement has been adopted by acclamation, which is a good basis for international cooperation, something that is more than needed if we want to address migration in a comprehensive and effective way," he said.
In joining the document, Slovenia "explicitly respected the principles such as countries' sovereignty to determine their national policies and legislation related to migration, distinguishing between legal and illegal migration and allowing forced return [of migrants] when voluntary is not possible".
Foreign Minister Miro Cerar, speaking on the sidelines of an EU ministerial in Brussels, said he believed "the agreement will mostly bring positive things", but stressed that action would also have to be taken to prevent illegal migrations at the national level in the future.
"Despite much turbulence the Marrakesh global agreement on migrations caused in Europe, I'm calm now," said Cerar, adding the adoption of the agreement put an end to attempts by extreme populists to use non-truths, misinformation and scaremongering to scare people to gain politically.
However, such efforts will resurface again before next year's European elections and later, so it is important for Slovenia to have a positive attitude towards globalisation and to promote human rights and cooperation on migrations at the global level, he said.
Highlighting the need for multilateralism, Cerar reiterated his view that no country, not even the largest one, can handle on its own challenges such as climate change, migrations, digitalisation and security.
He is happy the Slovenian government made the right decision to join the agreement. Although it is not legally binding, the agreement facilitates common efforts to prevent illegal migrations, especially the return of illegal migrants, the foreign minister stressed.
The first inter-governmentally negotiated agreement on a common approach to international migration in all of its dimensions, the agreement has divided European countries as well as the public in Slovenia.
The document sets out 23 objectives for better managing migration in the interests of countries, migrants and the communities hosting them.
In July this year, the agreement was backed by all 193 UN member countries except for the US, which withdrew from the negotiations in December 2017.
The countries which have not joined it argue the document does not distinguish between legal and illegal migrations, but encroaches on national sovereignty in migration policy.
Offering similar arguments, the right-wing opposition parties in Slovenia had urged the government to reject it. They had also said the agreement does not address the causes of migration in the countries of origin.
The Democratic Party (SDS) filed for a referendum on the document, but it is not clear whether such a vote will be admissible. The parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee is to discuss the matter later this week.
Today, a protest against the document was held in front of the parliament building.
Meanwhile, opposition New Slovenia (NSi) leader Matej Tonin expressed regret that a Slovenian delegation took part in the Marrakesh conference, reiterating opposition to the agreement.
The compact "promotes multiculturalism in a rather aggressive way where it appears as if it should be us who almost had to adapt to those who come here, rather than the other way around", Tonin said.
The agreement includes many recommendations as to how the culture and customs of the immigrants should be respected. "However, the NSi believes that the guests in our house have an obligation to adapt to our customs and to subject to our laws and the constitution," he said.
Tonin added that Slovenia's joining the agreement could be a wrong message to the migrants waiting in the Balkans to continue their journey north.
"A open-door policy is false solidarity which causes even more problems. If countries want to help, they should help them by means of expertise, technology so they can create suitable living conditions for themselves," the NSi said.
The agreement, which is not legally binding, will be endorsed by a resolution at the UN General Assembly on 19 December.
Anti-UN migration pact rally staged in front of parliament
STA, 10 December 2018 - An estimated 200 to 250 people gathered on Monday in front the parliament building in Ljubljana in what appears to be a protest against the UN migration pact adopted in Marrakesh.
The statements of the protesters, some of which have donned yellow vests, indicate they are fearing the migration pact will have serious consequences for Slovenia.
They blocked access to parliament and disrupted traffic on the street in front of the parliament.
Many spoke of high treason, which was echoed by Bernard Brščič, an economist and former state secretary in the PM's office under the 2012/2013 Janez Janša government.
"Senior politicians are also aware of this and have turned tail, letting an insignificant clerk sign the declaration in their place," Brščič said.
While he said that the fear of a referendum will prevent a ratification in parliament that would make the declaration part of Slovenia's legal order, Brščič insisted this is an international treaty that will have legal consequences.
The protesters meanwhile argued they were not only protesting against the migration pact, also listing the failure to get the voice of small people heard, flawed referendum legislation and the need for national sovereignty and the liberation of society.
Before the anti-UN migration pact rally, the same location was used for a small rally by representatives of trade unions, who argued that workers rights were also part of human rights.
Slovenia is among the countries who have backed Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.
The right-wing opposition parties in Slovenia had urged the government to reject the agreement. They also say that the agreement does not address the causes of migration in the countries of origin.
The Democratic Party (SDS) has filed for a referendum on the document, but it is not clear whether such a vote would be admissible. The parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee is to discuss the matter later this week.
STA, 6 December 2018 - The number of workers from abroad rose by 18.8% to 86,014 between end of September 2017 and end of September this year, with former Yugoslav countries representing the main workforce pool for Slovenian companies, data from the Statistics Office shows.
According to the Statistics Office, nearly half of foreign workers in Slovenia come from Bosnia-Herzegovina (41,832). They are followed by those from Serbia (10,451) and Croatia (7,316).
However, the inflow of workforce in percentage increased the most from Kosovo, by 27% to 6,930, compared to 24.5% rise in workers from Serbia, a 21.4% rise in workers from Bosnia and an 18.9% increase in workers from Croatia.
Workers from Croatia got free access to the Slovenian labour market under EU rules in July as a consequence of the election-related political hiatus, and Slovenia has accords designed to improve workers' legal standing with Bosnia and Serbia.
The accord with Bosnia has been in force for some time now, while the one with Serbia was only signed in early November, so it has not affected the data yet.
Despite having no such deals, Slovenia is a destination of choice for workers from other former Yugoslav countries as well, including for those from Macedonia, whose number increased by 15.8% to 5,914 by the end of September.
STA, 21 November - Democrat (SDS) leader Janez Janša announced his party would seek an advisory referendum on the UN Global Compact for Migration as discussion in parliament reaffirmed the divide among parties on the matter. At the same time, around 200 protesters gathered outside the parliament in opposition to the deal.
Parliament discussed in an emergency session on Wednesday the UN global compact at the behest of the conservative opposition Democrats (SDS), New Slovenia (NSi) and National Party (SNS), which consider the compact dangerous for Slovenia and believe the government should reject it.
MP Branko Grims, the SDS's chief migrations bullhorn, reiterated their stance that the agreement, which is to be adopted in Marrakesh, Morocco, next month, was misleading and would not tackle the root causes of migrations.
Conservatives also took issue with the way the decision to back the deal was made in Slovenia, with Janša saying that parliament should have discussed it first and only then the government instead of vice-versa.
Related: Šarec - Slovenia supports UN Compact, but opposed to illegal migration
"You did not leave us any other choice but to file for an advisory referendum," he said and added that the name of the deal was misleading.
In a reference to the decision of the US not to take part in the compact, Janša said that no deal that was not supported by all members of the UN Security Council was global.
On the other hand, Foreign Minister Miro Cerar reiterated that it was key for Slovenia to remain in the group of more than 150 countries by joining the compact. "This way, we will manage together the thing that no country can manage alone - mass migrations and illegal migrations."
He told the press that the opposition was "scaring people by misleading them, telling numerous nontruths and intentional lies".
"There are a few hundred refugees in Slovenia. Our borders are controlled," he stressed.
But this view is not shared by around 200 protesters in front of the parliament building carrying banners such as Slovenia for Slovenians. Protesters, who were also invited to join by Janša, are urging the government to reject the UN compact.
The session has been suspended, but it will end without any decisions anyway, because the proposal of the conservative parties was voted down by parliamentary committees last week.
UPDATE: The STA also reports that the Democrats (SDS) filed a demand for an advisory referendum on the UN Global Compact for Migration on Wednesday following a parliamentary session on the document. For the vote to take place, the motion needs to be endorsed by a regular majority in parliament.
A statement from the SDS said after the session that the motion was filed together by the SDS and the National Party (SNS).
The debate at the plenary indicated today that the only other party opposing the the government's decision that Slovenia support the document in Marrakesh in early December is the conservative New Slovenia (NSi).
Together, the three parties have 36 seats in the 90-member legislature.
If endorsed, the referendum question will read: Are you in favour of Slovenia joining the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration that equates legal and illegal migrations?
SDS head Janez Janša called on other parties to support the motion and give the people a chance to voice their position after reading the compact. The Slovenian translation of the document has been available as of yesterday.
Janša indicated that the SDS would file the referendum motion during the plenary, saying that the process in which the document was approved in Slovenia was anti-constitutional and illegal. The government decided to endorse the document without political or legal discussions.
All our stories on immigration and Slovenia are here
A statement from the SDS said after the session that the motion was filed together by the SDS and the National Party (SNS).
The debate at the plenary indicated today that the only other party opposing the the government's decision that Slovenia support the document in Marrakesh in early December is the conservative New Slovenia (NSi).
Together, the three parties have 36 seats in the 90-member legislature.
If endorsed, the referendum question will read: Are you in favour of Slovenia joining the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration that equates legal and illegal migrations?
