In a letter published on Tuesday 17 January, Council of Europe (CoE) Commissioner on Human Rights Nils Muiznieks called on the Slovenian parliament to “reject amendments to the Aliens Act that are contrary to international human rights and refugee protection standards by which Slovenia is bound”.
This is a reference to texts adopted by the Slovenian government on 5 January which would enable the police to close the borders to illegal migrants were there to be a situation that was “seen as a threat to public order or national security”, a measure that can be put in place for renewable period of six months.
Muiznieks acknowledges that Slovenia has experienced “an unprecedented and difficult situation” in the second half of 2015 and the start of 2016 “when thousands of migrants … crossed its territory using the so-called ‘Balkans route’” and said that “avoiding the repetition of such a chaotic situation” was “a legitimate concern”. It must, however, be done in compliance with human rights obligations, he stressed.
He argues that the amendments to be put to a vote in the Slovenian parliament are “contrary to Slovenia’s legal obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights, which unequivocally prohibits refoulement and collective expulsion of foreigners, and to the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights, which affirms that member states have the legal duty to provide adequate procedures and remedies for the effective and individual assessment of protection needs of migrants”.
Were the measures proposed by the government to be passed, they “would not only tarnish Slovenia’s image as a country fully committed to human rights, but they would also risk provoking a domino effect in the region”, he warned. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)