On the evening before the 22 anniversary of the erasure Prešernovo gledališče Kranj will be hosted in Ljubljana with the play »25.671« – Tuesday, 25 February 2014, at 20 h in Center kulture Španski borci.

The play »25.671« is an original project that talks about the erasure from the register of permanent residents of 25.671 people on 26 February 1992. With this performance the theater wants to remind the Slovenian public and the government that even after more than two decades the injustices have not been corrected.

The play 25.671 was wholeheartedly embraced by the audience and the professional public in Slovenia and abroad. At the last year Borštnikovo srečanje the theatre received two awards for this play, directed by Oliver Frljić, dramaturge was Marinka Poštrak, acting Vesna Jevnikar, Darja Reichman, Vesna Slapar, Aljoša Ternovšek, Miha Rodman, Matjaž Višnar, Borut Veselko, Maja Frančeškin, Bojan Stojanov and Tina Vlašič.

You can read more about the play here: http://www.pgk.si/main.php?gr1=performance&id=2012060415002025 in http://www.spanskiborci.si/7/463/25-671.html

Before the play Amnesty International Slovenia and the Peace Institute in cooperation with some representatives of the erased are organizing a short presentation for everyone that is not yet familiar with the details about the erasure or they would just like to get answers to those questions avoided by Slovenian politics. The presentation will take place at 19 h also in Španski borci, in gallery on 1st floor.

Welcome!

Faculty of Arts and Faculty of Social Work are inviting to the discussion accompanying the translation of the book Stories of the erased people in Croatian language – on 28 February 2014 at 16.00 h in Trubarjeva hiša literature, Stritarjeva 7, Ljubljana.

22 years have passed since the biggest violation of human rights in Slovenia happened – the erasure of 25.671 persons from the register of permanent residents. Diverse consequences of the illegal deprivation of the permanent residency have severely affected lives of the erased and their families, while many injustices remain. Besides the book Stories of the erased and its recent translation to Croatian language the conversation will be about social, health, legal and other effects of the erasure, about strategies the erased have used to fight all sorts of obstacles, about the events in the time of erasure, and the on-going fight for the compensation will be presented.

Discussants: Andrea Feher (co-author), Miša Hrib (co-author), dr. Uršula Lipovec Čebron (co-editor), dr. Jelka Zorn (co-editor), Shura Dumanić (Shura Publications), Andrej Okreša (translator), Darija Žilić (translator) in Vladimir Vidaković (translator); moderator: Blaž Bajič. The discussion will be accompanied by Vladimir Vidaković performing on guitar.

The Faculty of Arts is inviting to the symposium within The Erased Week, on 27 February 2014 at 10h in Blue room (5 floor) of the Faculty of Arts.

Children’s rights should be protected by several international conventions, children’s welfare should be protected by national and local institutions, and the representatives of the authorities, in their political programs, often promise specific measures in favour of children. By erasure from the registry of permanent residents of Slovenia also a large number of children lost their rights – both, erased children and children of erased parents. Since the erasure no institutions at the national and / or European level attempted to protect the rights of children affected by the erasure in a public, collective manner. Erased children and children of the erased parents stayed consistently invisible and inaudible. Although it’s been 22 years since the erasure and in this time they have grown up, it is important to speak publicly about their experiences.

In order to learn something from their testimonies, we need a collective reflection. In order to better understand the consequences of the erasure and avoid similar situations, we need continued research, public debate and meaningful action at the local, national and European level.

Program:
10.00 – 10.45 dr. Stuart Aitken (University in San Diego): Locked-in-Place: Young People’s Rights and Mobilities
10.45 – 11.45 testimonies of the erased children and children of the erased parents, moderating Uršula Lipovec Čebron (Faculty of Arts)
11.45 – 12.00 coffee break
12.00 – 12.30 Sara Pistotnik (SC Rog, Faculty of Arts): Children of the erasure – some starting points
12.30 – 14.00 round table Consequences of the erasure for children: experiences and legal aspects, Blaž Kovač (Amnesty International), Katarina Vučko (the Peace Institute), Ana Živanović (Faculty of Arts), invited also representatives of the Community of Centers for social work and Directorate of Family at the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Affairs; moderating Jelka Zorn (Faculty of Social Work).

The Peace Institute and Amnesty International Slovenia are inviting to the short presentation about the erasure, on Tuesday 25 February 2014 at 19h in Center kulture Španski borci, in gallery on 1st floor.

Before the play “25.671″ of Prešernovo gledališče Kranj on Tuesday, 25 February 2014, at 20h in Center kulture Španski borci, Amnesty International Slovenia and the Peace Institute together with some representatives of the erased are preparing a short presentation about the erasure for everyone who is not yet familiar with the details of the erasure or would like to get answers to the questions avoided by Slovenian politics.

At the anniversary of the erasure from the register of permanent residence (26 February) every year the erased people and the human rights organizations traditionally organize public events. The period around the anniversary when the events are held is called The Erased Week. Such events, organized with an aim of awareness raising and alerting about the need to remedy the violations, caused with the erasure, will take place in 2012 as well.

The Erased Week 2007, Round table | Photo: Darij Zadnikar

The program of the 2012 Erased Week will also be published at this information-documentation portal.

For the events, organized within the Erased Week, click here.

Press conference
4 July 2011, Peace Institute Library, Ljubljana

The editors of the book titled “Stories of the erased people”, which was published by Sanje, are Uršula Lipovec Čebron and Jelka Zorn. The book is composed of 27 stories that were written by the erased people and students of the Faculty of Social Work and the Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology at the Faculty of Arts. Stories are about courage, innovation, survival strategies and hope, and they reveal new or less known aspects of the erasure and its consequences.

Photo: Borut Krajnc

The reason for the travel of the erased people to Strasbourg was the public hearing of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights on the case Kurić and others vs. Slovenia on 6 July 2011. The seven-member Chamber of the European Court noted on 13 July 2010 that the Republic of Slovenia due to long-standing failure to implement the decision of the Constitutional Court violated Articles 8 and 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (which protect the right to respect the private and family life and the right to effective remedy). The government of the Republic of Slovenia requested for the Grand Chamber to decide on this case and for this purpose the European Court issued public hearing. The appellants, their attorneys, the erased and other individuals that have been involved in the preparation of the application to the European Court, legal experts from the Peace Institute and some journalists and photographers attended the hearing. The travel of the plaintiffs, other erased people and their supporters to the public hearing in Strasbourg was organized by the Peace Institute.

Peace Institute Book Launch Event 
24 February 2011, Cankarjev Dom, Ljubljana

Photo: Borut Krajnc

The Peace Institute book “The Scars of the Erasure. A Contribution to the Critical Understanding of the Erasure from the Register of Permanent Residence of the Republic of Slovenia” was first published in 2010 in Slovenian language. A year later an English translation of this work which is a joint result of seven authors is presented. In the book the erasure is portrayed within various contexts – economic and political transition, establishing of the common European migration policy, human rights, health issues, nationalism, language rights and emancipation movements. By putting the erasure in these contexts the book aims to achieve a broader understanding of this measure of unlawful deprivation of legal status of the people. The book is dedicated to Aleksandar Todorović, a man at the forefront of the fight for the erased people’s rights.

Peace Institute Book Launch Event
25 February 2010, Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana

The Peace Institute book “The Scars of the Erasure. A Contribution to the Critical Understanding of the Erasure from the Register of Permanent Residence of the Republic of Slovenia” is a joint result of seven authors. In the book the erasure is portrayed within various contexts – economic and political transition, establishing of the common European migration policy, human rights, health issues, nationalism, language rights and emancipation movements. By putting the erasure in these contexts the book aims to achieve a broader understanding of this measure of unlawful deprivation of legal status of the people. The book is dedicated to Aleksandar Todorović, a man at the forefront of the fight for the erased people’s rights.

Book presentation The Scars of the Erasure | Photo: Jaka Adamič

Conference
3 and 4 December 2008, City Museum of Ljubljana

Photo: Peace Institute

On 26 February 1992 the authorities unlawfully erased 18.305 people, at the time mostly being citizens of other former Yugoslav republics, from the register of permanent residents of Republic of Slovenia. Due to this act they remained without any legal status in Slovenia. Since they did not apply for the Slovenian citizenship the authorities saw them as unfaithful to the new young nation state. Until today the erasure has still not been legally resolved despite the decisions of the Constitutional Court and the representatives of the state have not apologized for this offense. Many erased people managed to regulate their legal status in Slovenia throughout the years, though, the experience of deportations, suicides, job and housing losses, family members, partners and friends losses, health insurance and pensions remain. In 2008 there were still at least 4000 people without regulated legal status in Slovenia, many of them being displaced in other republics of former Yugoslavia, Europe and across the world. On the other hand, legal as well as political struggle of activists and some non-governmental organizations for the support of the erased people was very strong for a number of years. But the erasure remains a stain on the legal and political image of Slovenia.

Speakers at the conference: Lev Kreft, Jelka Zorn, Matevž Krivic, Ljubo Bavcon, Dragica Wedam Lukić, Andraž Teršek, Uršula Lipovec Čebron, Neža Kogovšek, Aleksandar Todorović and other researchers, legal experts, sociologists, political experts and activists, representatives of the Peace Institute, Amnesty International Slovenia, Legal Information Center – PIC, the erased and guests from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Round table discussion (organized within the Erased Week)
28 February 2008, KUD France Prešeren, Ljubljana

Antifascist protest, 26 April 2006 | Photo: Dare Čekeliš

The Peace Institute and Civil Initiative of Erased Activists organized a round table discussion »Erasure in the media« within the Erased Week. Guests – Igor Mekina (Dnevnik), Gojko Bervar (RA Slovenija), Siniša Gačić (TV Slovenija), Alenka Arko (POP TV) and Igor Kocijančič – focused on the media reporting on the erasure in Slovenian and foreign media. Which media reported first on the erasure, how and under which circumstances? How did the information about the erasure get to the media and what kind of problems were those reporting on the issue facing? How did the media contribute to the formation of the public discourse on the erasure? What is the situation with the reporting on the erasure like today? These are some questions we tried to answer. We also discussed about the public image of the erased people that has been formed by the media reporting and how this image has changed with years.