“The situation with the arrival of refugees and migrants in Slovenia is still very challenging, both due to the number of people entering the country every day and the dispersed manner of their entry along the Slovenian–Croatian border,” the State Secretary at the Ministry of the Interior, Boštjan Šefic, told the press at today’s conference. Despite everything, Slovenia is keeping the situation under control in the face of the refugee crisis, although with immense effort.
Although Slovenia does not have unlimited capacities, as Šefic has warned, we are trying to make the best possible use of all the available resources. Our key task is to take care of the arrivals in a safe and humane manner.
The sheer mass and, even more problematically, unannounced arrivals of migrants and refugees have made the provision of care and food and the organisation of work at centres even more difficult. “The present situation, where we are receiving from up to 9000 to as many as 13,000 arrivals per day, is not ideal,” Šefic noted, adding that such mass influxes had caused problems for other EU member states as well. Although he believes that the migrants are being registered fast enough despite their numbers, he warns that “the situation is under control, but remains very difficult”.
Swift reply from the European Commission, implementation of the deal along the entire migration route significant
State secretary Šefic expressed satisfaction with the results of the EU-Balkans summit, which was convened by the President of the European Commission at Slovenia’s request. If the deals are implemented, this will vitally contribute to stabilising the situation and the control of the inflow of migrants along th whole Balkans route. It is essential that there is mutual communication and monitoring of the inflow of refugees between all countries involved. It is also significant that Slovenia will regularly update the European Commission on the implementation of the agreements, which will monitor the implementation of the deal on a weekly basis. Solidarity is needed from all sides, from the beginning of the refugee route to the target countries, said Šefic. Slovenia cannot allow dispersed arrivals forever. Otherwise, it will “have to take appropriate measures in terms of tighter control of the border and redirection of the refugees”.
According to Šefic, the European Commission is already processing Slovenia's request for financial and other assistance. According to his information, 10 million euros are to be transferred shortly, and the money should come in instalments. Slovenia's request for financial assistance was significantly higher.
Medical care for refugees provided in all centres
At today’s press conference, the State Secretary at the Ministry of Health, Sandra Tušar, explained that Slovenia provides medical care to refugees in all reception and accommodation centres through community health centres. It is very challenging for health workers that the refugees are at four different locations. The situation remains the most difficult in Brežice, and the town was visited by the health minister yesterday. In addition, there are army medical units with vehicles in the field, as well as many volunteers from Slovenia and abroad.
New operational deals
According to the Director General of the Administration of the Republic of Slovenia for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief, Darko But, new measures were agreed at the meeting of the operational group. They will hire additional translators, which is particularly important in medical treatment and examinations. Soon, authorised officials from the financial administration will be included in the efforts to control the situation, as well as security services. In addition, the unemployed will participate from Wednesday on as part of the public works programme.
Today, 280 members of the Slovenian armed forces supported the police in the field. On Sunday, 400 volunteers and members of the civil protection services were also involved. By the end of the week, 400 police officers from other EU member states are to be deployed to Slovenia to help control the migrant tide.
Valuable assistance through civil protection mechanism and bilateral cooperation
Slovenia has requested material aid to provide for the migrants and for the work of emergency and humanitarian personnel via EU civil protection mechanism. Aid has already been supplied by the Czech Republic, Hungary and the Netherlands, while aid from Germany is to arrive shortly. Slovenia is receiving aid from the UNHCR, Unicef, Caritas and the Red Cross. Šefic also explicitly thanked all countries and organisations for donated equipment.
Over 76,000 in the second refugee tide
In the second refugee tide, 76,306 people entered Slovenia. Information about 36,550 people has been processed, according to which most refugees come from Syria (21,155), followed by Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan.