Slovenia

The situation

HIGHLIGHTS

Representatives of countries along the Balkan route (Greece, Albania, FYROM, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Austria) committed to closer cooperation and information exchange on migrants arriving on their territory, during a meeting held on 7 June 2018 in Sarajevo.

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and Slovenia have all stepped up border patrols following an increasing number of people transiting through the area, particularly through Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The relocation scheme established by Council Decisions 2015/1523 and 2015/1601 (“Relocation Decisions”) to assist Italy and Greece over a two-year period from September 2015 has sparked heated debates at the EU level. Even though the Relocation Decisions formally expired on 26 September 2017, their effects continue to live on in the ongoing processing of pending relocation cases. At the same time, the relocation of asylum seekers has been at the heart of animated discussions on the reform of the Dublin system and sharing of protection responsibility between EU Member States.

HIGHLIGHTS

DTM flow monitoring data compiled from national authorities and IOM offices show that the number of arrivals through Mediterranean routes between January and March 2018 is half the number of arrivals in the same period in 2017. In the first quarter of 2018 a total of 1,956 migrants and asylum seekers arrived in Europe using different land and sea routes, in comparison to 34,531 registered in the first quarter of 2017. As previously reported, the decrease is mainly due to the drop in arrivals in Italy.

Ljubljana – Slovenia will implement its first ever refugee resettlement programme with the support of IOM, the UN Migration Agency, by resettling 60 Syrian refugees from Turkey to Slovenia in 2018. The new programme officially came into effect after the signing of a Framework Agreement between IOM and the Slovenian government on Thursday (12/04).

“The resettlement agreement marks a new milestone in the cooperation between Slovenia and IOM,” said Iva Perhavec, IOM Slovenia Head of Office.

Push for transfers at any cost – the Dublin system in 2017

The 2017 Dublin Update, published by the Asylum Information Database, releases figures for 18 European countries revealing an increase in transfers in the aftermath of European Union and domestic political commitments for a stricter enforcement of the Dublin system.

• El proyecto se lleva a cabo en siete ciudades europeas de Reino Unido, Francia, Austria, Dinamarca, Italia, Eslovenia y Chipre.

• Está cofinanciado por la Dirección General de Empleo, Asuntos Sociales e Inclusión de la Comisión Europea.

12,736 TOTAL ARRIVALS TO EUROPE IN 2018 10,566 ARRIVALS BY SEA IN 2018 2,170 ARRIVALS BY LAND IN 2017 20,200 ARRIVALS TO EUROPE BY THE END OF FEBRUARY 2017

Highlights

The new Country Report on Slovenia, the 23rd country covered by the Asylum Information Database, offers a thorough analysis of the country’s legal framework and practice relating to the asylum procedure, reception conditions, detention of asylum seekers and content of international protection.

Overview

During 2017, almost 38,900 refugees were submitted by UNHCR for resettlement1 to 25 countries in Europe,2 36% more than during 2016 and over three times greater than the average rate of 12,400 submissions per year during the last decade.
Between 2007 and 2016, Europe’s proportion of resettlement sub-missions globally has increased from approximately 9% to more than 18%, and in 2017 reached 52%. This is primarily due to a significant decrease globally in new submissions for resettlement, most notably to the United States of America.

33,154 Total persons relocated

21,710 Relocated from Greece (33% of 66,400 originally foreseen)

11,444 Relocated from Italy (29% of 39,600 originally foreseen)

8,501 TOTAL ARRIVALS TO EUROPE IN 2018
7,174 ARRIVALS BY SEA IN 2018
1,327 ARRIVALS BY LAND IN 2017
186,768 TOTAL ARRIVALS TO EUROPE IN 2017

Highlights

Migration control is a key-element in EU enlargement efforts in the Western Balkans.

• 186,768 TOTAL ARRIVALS TO EUROPE
  
• 172,362 TOTAL ARRIVALS TO EUROPE BY SEA
  
• 14,406 TOTAL ARRIVALS TO EUROPE BY LAND
  

Developments
Countries of first arrival

• 186,768 TOTAL ARRIVALS TO EUROPE
  
• 172,362 TOTAL ARRIVALS TO EUROPE BY SEA
  
• 14,406 TOTAL ARRIVALS TO EUROPE BY LAND
  

Highlights

Children on the move face a range of risks, lack protection and fall through the cracks during their desperate journeys through countries of origin, transit, arrival and return. Some 164,000 refugees and migrants, including 29,000 children, entered Europe in 2017, joining the 1.4 million people, including 360,000 children, who arrived in 2015-2016, and the 3.6 million people, including 1.2 million children, already hosted in Turkey.3 The Central Mediterranean was the most used route in 2017, with spikes of arrivals in the Eastern Mediterranean in the fall.

The research paper ‘Follow the Money: Assessing the use of AMIF funding at the national level’ by ECRE and UNHCR, provides a thorough and critical analysis of the €3.1 billion Asylum, Migration & Integration Fund (AMIF) established by the EC for the period of 2014-20. The AMIF aims to contribute to the efficient management of migration flows and to the implementation and development of a common European approach to asylum and migration.

The ECDC Communicable Disease Threats Report (CDTR) is a weekly bulletin for epidemiologists and health professionals on active public health threats. This issue covers the period 14-20 January 2018 and includes updates on influenza, yellow fever and salmonellosis.