Refugees at Slovenian border
20. 9. 2015 | Human Rights and Minorities
Rigonce border crossing, 20th September 2015
Officially, 2500 refugees came to Slovenia until 20th September, and many of them already left for Austria. 550 people waiting to enter. When they arrive to Slovenian border they are let in in smaller groups so the police can organize them and take them (with buses) to registration and then to accommodation centres.
People working in the field claim that only those refugees are registered who arrive to the border crossings. Those who cross outside the b/c, are not even registered but just taken by bus towards Austria. This means that the real number of people could be higher than 2500.
There’s a serious problem with discrimination on the grounds of nationality: Syrians and Iraqis have priority while Afghanis and others have to wait for days in no man’s land between the two borders.
Humanitarian aid (water, food, sanitation, medical aid) is provided but there’s a lack coordination between the many NGOs present at the border corssings.
So far, Austria seems to be accepting everyone, in spite of the fact that officially it announced that it will return everyone to Slovenia. So far this has not happened yet. On the opposite, it provided trains for refugees, did not even register them and did not require them to buy the ticket. So there’s de-facto corridor.
The problem is lack of information provision on procedures. Humanitarian workers who are in touch with refugees don’t have knowledge about the procedures and so far no leaflets have been made with information about the procedure awaiting the refugees in Slovenia. The Peace Institute is working on it right now and tommorow distribution starts.
