STA, 6 December 2018 - Interior Minister Boštjan Poklukar welcomed in Brussels on Thursday the EU Council's partial agreement on the reform of Frontex, the European border guard, which includes a stronger mandate in the returns of migrants and cooperation with third countries. Slovenia meanwhile remains reserved with regard to the remaining elements in the reform proposal.

Poklukar said on the sidelines of the Justice and Home Affairs Council session that Slovenia supported the stronger mandate and cooperation with countries beyond those directly neighbouring on the EU.

It is however reserved about the remaining points of the proposal, which also seeks to establish a European Border and Coast Guard standing corps of 10,000 operational staff with executive powers by 2020.

Photo: frontex.europa.eu

Slovenia is in principle in favour of a gradual formation of a standing corps, it is however reserved about the 10,000 figure, Poklukar said.

He also noted that it had still not been possible to see under what criteria or by which key responsibilities would be divided among member states.

Poklukar reiterated that all European police forces are facing staff shortages and that this is also a major problem of Slovenia's police force.

The minister moreover expressed Slovenia's interest to have its missions sent to Western Balkan countries.

Since Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, already has a lot of possibilities for cooperation with third countries on the basis of existing legislation, Poklukar expects concrete steps already in the coming months.

Photo: frontex.europa.eu

In line with expectations the ministers failed to make a breakthrough in a bid to find a comprehensive agreement on reform of the EU's asylum system.

European Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos repeated that time was running out and some key dossiers would have to be agreed before the Euro elections in May.

Considering a lack of progress on asylum reform, the commissioner called for breaking up the asylum package, by passing five dossiers right away, while continuing debate on the two most contentious ones, including mandatory refugee quotas.

Minister Poklukar said that Slovenia would like the issues resolved and that "this must be in a package", but he did say that much debate would still be needed to align views.

A Slovenian human rights NGO, Danes je nov dan (Today is a New Day), has produced a game that aims to raise empathy with regard to the difficulties migrants face in leaving their countries and trying to find a safe space in another country.

It’s called Razor Wire, and was inspired by November 2018 being the third anniversary of the placing of such wire along the border with Croatia in order to deter migrants. Moreover, although the number of people trying to cross the border has since declined dramatically, and the new Prime Minister, Marjan Sareč, made removing the wire a campaign issue, the barrier still remains in place.

Level one - escape the war

The game – which can be played online here, if you have a keyboard – is in Slovenian but relatively simple to follow, and requires you to guide a migrant through three increasingly difficult levels as they attempt to reach Europe.

Speaking to Reuters, Maja Cimerman, a project manager at the NGO, noted that "Many refugees... call their experience "the game" because it has many traps and obstacles. They have to travel at night, they have to avoid the police, they are often robbed or their documents are taken away by the police, and often or regularly they are sent back to refugee camps.”

We kept getting stuck on level 2, but perhaps you can do better.

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?

STA, 19 November 2018 - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec told the National Assembly on Monday that by acceding to the UN Global Compact for Migration, Slovenia would not lose sovereignty in that field. He stressed that the document did not equalise legal and illegal migration, adding that Slovenia was successful in tackling illegal migration.

"Illegal migration is a problem and Slovenia does not support it," Šarec said in an answer to an MP question, adding that the current illegal migration faced by Slovenia was a consequence of activities of human-smuggling criminal groups.

"This is something we are fighting against every day. The Slovenian police are working responsibly on this," he told Danijel Krivic of the opposition Democrats (SDS), who originally asked about an official Slovenian translation of the UN Global Compact for Migration.

While Krivic believes that a translation could resolve dilemmas raised in the public, Šarec said that there was no translation because ratification in parliament had not been envisaged. A translation has nevertheless been commissioned and it will be published soon, he added.

UN Compact on Migration is not legally binding

But the prime minister said that this would change nothing, as the fact is that the document is not legally binding. He added that the document, which is expected to be confirmed in Morocco's Marrakesh in December, was being "hugely politicised".

Šarec believes that the countries which have announced withdrawal from the agreement did so for internal political reasons. He rejected the policy of scaremongering in a bid to score political points, including by the SDS.

He pointed out that some countries "which have much bigger problems with migration than us", like Spain, had acceded to the UN Global Compact for Migration.

The signature on the document will not have any impact on the number of migrants in Slovenia, he said, adding that it was the beginning of resolution of a common problem, like climate change or something else.

Migration an international problem

"If every government started to solve the issue on its own, and close its borders ... then we will not get far," Šarec said, adding that the EU was facing huge problems because the issue was not being tackled in unison.

"The issue of migration needs to be addressed at the source and by no means by politicking here today," he added.

The right-leaning opposition has been calling on the government to fully reject and actively oppose the adoption of the UN Global Compact for Migration.

The SDS, New Slovenia (NSi) and National Party (SNS) want the National Assembly to propose that to the government, with the session on the topic scheduled for Wednesday. The motion has already been rejected by the relevant committee.

The government meanwhile appointed last week an inter-ministerial task force to draft and implement a migration management strategy. The strategy will include economic and illegal migration, international protection and integration.

Interior Minister Boštjan Poklukar said on Thursday that the strategy was an obligation under the coalition agreement. The task force will be headed by Interior Ministry State Secretary Sandi Čurin, an expert in combat against human trafficking.

A number of NGOs and humanitarian and research organisations have called on the government to include at least two NGO representatives in the task force and a representative of an organisation studying migration.

By doing so, the government would draft a strategy which would be based on the latest findings, reliable and comprehensive data on the situation regarding migration, says the letter signed by a total of 23 organisations.

All our immigration stories are here

STA, 13 November 2018 - The increase in migrations has not led to higher crime rates in the border areas, but in the capital Ljubljana crime involving asylum seekers has increased, according to police figures presented at a session of the parliamentary Commission for the Oversight of Intelligence and Security Services on Tuesday.

The commission examined rumours of a spike in crime, but statistics for the police districts Novo Mesto and Koper, where the bulk of migrants are caught, do not bear that out, according to commission chair Matej Tonin.

But a spike in criminal acts, in particular theft and drug offences, perpetrated by asylum seekers has been recorded in Ljubljana and police said they would increase presence of officers in hot spots in the capital

But beyond petty crime, Tonin stressed that police have arrested 169 human traffickers so far this year, of which 29 Slovenian citizens and 140 foreigner nationals.

Slovenian police have registered almost 8,000 illegal border crossings so far this year, with the biggest groups coming from Pakistan, Algeria and Morocco.

Roughly half of them were returned to Croatia, while the majority of the others "evaporated in the course of the asylum procedure," according to Tonin.

STA, 13 November 2018 - While most local races revolve around things such as traffic and the local economy, illegal migrations have featured prominently in the election campaign in the town of Črnomelj in the south east. Incumbent Mayor Mojca Čemas Stjepanovič seems to be caught between a rival calling for more anti-migration measures, and opponents of such measures.

Although four candidates are running for Črnomelj mayor, the two main protagonists are Čemas Stjepanovič, a candidate of the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) and the Social Democrats (SD), and Maja Kocjan, put forward by the Democrats (SDS) and supported by the New Slovenia (NSi).

Kocjan, a municipal councillor of the SDS who has been very active in an anti-immigration group called the Bela Krajina Civil Initiative, advocates a harsher approach to migrations.

Illegal immigration in Slovenia rose by 400% in first nine months of 2018

The number of illegal crossings of the Slovenian border surged by more than 400% year-on-year between January and September, to 6,667. As many as 2,050 of the crossings were recorded in the Črnomelj area and the number rose to 2,498 until 4 November.

Kocjan believes Slovenia should send a signal to migrants that the Slovenian border cannot be penetrated, so she is calling for additional fencing along the bordering Kolpa river in places where there is no fencing yet.

Čemas Stjepanovič told an election debate aired by the commercial broadcaster Kanal A at the end of last month that additional fencing was being erected in the most critical areas and that future steps would depend on the number of migrants crossing the border.

She also expressed her grievances regarding the costs of migrations that fall on the municipality. "This means that we have less money available for other purposes," she said.

Kocjan would also like soldiers to protect the border and that the state authorities were more susceptible to the safety concerns of local population, including about any plans to set up migrant centres in the region.

But while Kocjan has criticised Čemas Stjepanovič for not being determined enough in the face of migrations, the opponents of anti-migration measures claim the opposite on social media.

A Facebook group opposing the border fence in Bela Krajina is upset by Čemas Stjepanovič's collaboration with the police in the erection of additional fencing along the Kolpa.

Saying that the two parties which support her advocate a different approach to migration, the group claims Čemas Stjepanovič is taking on the same anti-migration rhetoric ahead of election as the SDS candidate, Kocjan.

"Another election this year is being marked by repressive measures and scaremongering in what is no emergency situation," the group wrote on Facebook at the beginning of the month.

Immigration not such an issue in other border areas

Interestingly, migrations have not emerged as a major topic in any of the other municipalities affected by migrations, even though it seemed they might become a prominent issue in particular for centre-right parties.

The issue has come up only in Kočevje, where the National Party (SNS) candidate, Alenka Jelenovič, one of the four candidates challenging incumbent Mayor Vladimir Prebilič, voiced opposition to the setting up of a migrant centre unperturbed by there being no such formal plans for the area.

All our local election coverage can be found here

STA, 15 October 2018 - Brežice, the municipality on the border with Croatia which suffered the brunt of the migration crisis in 2015 and 2016, received assurances from the interior minister on Monday that the police were coping with illegal migrations on the southern border. 

STA, 12 October 2018 - Slovenia expressed reservations Friday about EU plans to set up a permanent European Border and Coast Guard with 10,000 members, in particular about staff contributions, executive authority, financing and the time frame. 

STA, 8 October 2018 - The Slovenian police apprehended nearly 160 illegal migrants on the country's southern border with Croatia at the weekend, 74 in the area of the Novo Mesto Police Department, south-east, and 85 in the area policed by the Koper Police Department, south-west. 

STA, 24 September 2018 - More than 70 foreigners were apprehended after illegally crossing the border in the Koper area in the west this weekend and another 36 in the Novo Mesto area in the south-east. There are currently 266 asylum seekers in the country, according to official statistics.