Back Commissioner publishes report on Slovenia and Human Rights Comment on Afrophobia

Commissioner publishes report on Slovenia and Human Rights Comment on Afrophobia

On 11 July 2017, the Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muižniek, published a report following his visit to Slovenia last March, focusing, inter alia, on access to asylum, the situation of unaccompanied migrant children, migrant integration, and statelessness in this context. Welcoming Slovenia’s participation in the EU emergency relocation scheme, as well as in the resettlement of asylum seekers from countries neighbouring Syria, the Commissioner in his report encourages the authorities to make systemic adjustments to ensure that the country can handle increasing numbers of asylum applications. He reiterates his concerns that the January 2017 amendments to the Aliens Act lack appropriate guarantees against refoulement and safeguards for the rights of everyone to seek and enjoy asylum, and asks the authorities not to activate them. The Commissioner also recommends steps to improve the treatment of unaccompanied migrant minors and asylum seeking children; in particular by prohibiting the detention of irregular migrant children, ensuring that children asylum seekers are supported by well-trained and qualified staff, and reforming the legal guardianship system.

On 26 July 2017, the Commissioner published a Human Rights Comment on Afrophobia, where he criticised the media and politicians who often portray migrants as a menace to security in Europe and, in the long term, a direct threat to our cultures and societies. He noted that African migrants as a group have often been described as “economic migrants” to whom states should deny international protection. The Commissioner underscored that fuelling public anxiety about migration combined with the absence of a serious debate on the causes of migratory flows from Africa, which is the home of some of the biggest humanitarian crises in the world, cannot but reinforce the negative stereotypes associated with Black minorities in Europe.

On 25-26 September 2017, the Commissioner will participate in the conference “Immigration Detention of Children: Coming to a Close?” hosted by the Czech Chairmanship of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers.

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