February 22 (SeeNews) - Slovenia's long-standing human rights violations against the former permanent residents of the country originating from other former Yugoslav republics persisted in 2016, Amnesty International said.
"The Erased", as those people have been termed, were offered no new options to restore their legal status and related rights since the expiry of the Legal Status Act in 2013, Amnesty International said in its 2016/17 report on world human rights published on Tuesday.
In November, the European Court of Human Rights dismissed the complaint against Slovenia of some of the “erased” whose legal status had already been regulated, the non-governmental organisation noted. However, additional human rights issues of the “erased” remained pending before the court at the end of the year, it said.
Slovenia's discrimination against Roma also persisted throughout 2016, Amnesty said.
Many were living in segregated settlements in inadequate housing, lacking security of tenure and access to water, electricity, sanitation and public transport, it found. The government is, however, yet to adopt a comprehensive national Roma strategy as recommended by the parliamentary commission for human rights.
Refugees entering Slovenia in 2016 also faced barriers caused by slow asylum procedures, resulting from the authorities’ limited capacity to process applications, Amnesty said.
Throughout the year, more than 100 asylum-seekers, including unaccompanied minors, waited for first instance decisions for more than six months.
In March, Slovenia's amended the International Protection Act, introducing expedited asylum procedures for those who expressed the intention to apply for asylum at Slovenia’s border or in transit areas, Amnesty explained. However, the law also removed the right of refugees to financial assistance of 288 euro in the first month after international protection has been granted.
Slovenia received 124 asylum-seekers relocated from Greece and Italy under the EU relocation scheme by the end of the year, out of a total of 567 asylum-seekers it had committed to accept by the end of 2017.