Responding to the Global Detention Project’s Covid-19 survey, the Slovenian Human Rights Ombudsman reported that no moratorium on new immigration detention orders had been established by Slovenia and that no such measure was under consideration. Contrary to information published by ECRE (see 15 May Slovenia update on this platform), stating that immigration detainees had been released from the Postonja detention centre due to Covid-19, in a 21 April response to a request for information sent by the Ombudsman to the Interior Ministry, the ministry stated that no immigration detainees had been released from detention due to the pandemic and that no special measures had been adopted in case migrants were released. Importantly, however, the Ombudsman did not indicate whether they had received more recent information concerning these issues since the 21 April communications from the Interior Ministry.
The Ombudsman also reported that, to their knowledge, detained migrants are tested if it is suspected that they have Covid-19. New detainees are placed in isolation for six days to reduce the risk of spreading the disease.
Regarding returns, the Ombudsman indicated that in April, the National Preventive Mechanism staff of the Ombudsman’s office carried out monitoring of the return of three persons to North Macedonia. No further information was provided by the Ombudsman.
Furthermore, the Ombudsman’s office said that no new immigration and/or asylum policies as well as border controls in response to Covid-19 were implemented. However, new asylum and immigration legislation is currently being proposed by the government, yet the Ombudsman indicated that the changes do not seem to be directly linked to the crisis.
- Slovenian Human Rights Ombudsman, Global Detention Project’s Covid-19 survey, 9 July 2020.
- Global Detention Project, Immigration Detention in Slovenia, February 2019, https://www.globaldetentionproject.org/countries/europe/slovenia
- Ljubljana Asylum Centre Seen from Above, (Ergyn Zjeci, RTV SLO, “Refugee Children Going Missing in Slovenia,” 13 May 2016, https://www.rtvslo.si/news-in-english/refugee-children-going-missing-in-slovenia/392984)
