Slovenia
In Slovenia hostility towards immigrants has been rising as a result of anti-immigration hate speech and politics promoted by the government since 2020, which has been further reflected in tightening of the immigration laws and policies (since 2015). Immigration and asylum are in the prerogative of the Ministry of the Interior that has an obvious emphasis on issues of security. The official stance towards immigration is one of so-called migration management that – on the one hand – puts emphasis on circular labour migration (as needed by Slovenia’s economy), and – on the other hand – on issue of security and border control; i.e. treating migration as potential threat. The current right-wing government policies reflect political discourse of anti-immigration fear mongering and emergency.
As one positive development, in 2016 the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia adopted a Protection Against Discrimination Act (PADA) which established the Advocate of the Principle of Equality, an independent and autonomous state body mandated to deal with discrimination. The new Act strengthened enforcement mechanisms by enhancing access to procedures, introducing the shift of burden of proof and several sanctions. At least formally, then, Slovenia’s favourable laws cover most forms of racial, ethnic, religious and nationality discrimination, going beyond the minimums in EU law. It remains to be seen how this may affect migrant women’s integration prospects.
MIPEX therefore perceives anti-discrimination policies in Slovenia favourable due to favourable laws that cover most forms of racial, ethnic, religious and nationality discrimination, going beyond the minimums in EU law.
To end this chapter, we make available to students the following success stories starring migrant women in Slovenia:
“Overcoming the bureaucratic obstacles, poor information flow and health care issues” accessible at Welcome to VIW project (pixel-online.org) This success story illustrates the problem with getting the correct and quick information pertaining to various issues.
“Success in getting work opportunities, but facing health service access discrimination” accessible at: https://viw.pixel-online.org/case_view.php?id=Njc= and
“Integration as a project” accessible at: https://viw.pixel-online.org/case_view.php?id=OA==
References
MIPEX – Migrant Integration Policy Index. 2020. Brussels: Migration Policy Group. Available at: Slovenia | MIPEX 2020
The Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX) is a unique tool which measures policies to integrate migrants in countries across six continents, including all EU Member States (including the UK), other European countries (Albania, Iceland, North Macedonia, Moldova, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine), Asian countries (China, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, United Arab Emirates), North American countries (Canada, Mexico and US), South American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile), South Africa, and Australia and New Zealand in Oceania. Policy indicators have been developed to create a rich, multi-dimensional picture of migrants’ opportunities to participate in society. Specific indicators are available for Slovenia regarding anti-discrimination.
Zagovornik na?ela enakosti accessible at https://www.zagovornik.si/