Within the relocation plan for transfer of 567 refugees, within days Slovenia will receive the first asylum seekers, mostly males from Eritrea.

At the occasion of the consultation on settlement and integration of refugees, it was confirmed for Radio Slovenija by the State Secretary at the Ministry of Internal Affairs Boštjan Šefic. "We have made a lot of progress with the Italian colleagues. I believe that this group of 10 people will come to Slovenia from Italy within next ten to fourteen days," he explained. Most of the refugees are from Eritrea, most of them male, with one woman in the group.

"The basic parameters have been already sent to Greece as well, but we have not received all the answers yet. I am not able to give the precise date for Greece," he explained the relations with Greece to which Slovenia is sending material aid, Radio Slovenija reported. Slovenia committed to accept 567 individuals within the relocation plan, and 20 individuals within the permanent relocation plan. Another additional mechanism is being prepared in compliance with the agreement between the EU and Turkey.

Overcrowded Asylum Centre
At the consultation on settlement and integration he reminded that Slovenia is subjected to the most massive arrival of refugees until now, as reported by the Slovenian Press Agency (STA). Compared to only 17 applications in January, their number in February grew to 270, which exceeded the accommodation capabilities of the Asylum Centre, and because of that the government decided to establish two branches, at Kotnikova street in Ljubljana and in Logatec. At the moment there are 350 asylum seekers in Slovenia, 90 of those are children.

Due to the increased number of new arrivals, also through European commitments, according to Šefic we will have "to establish a system of active participation of municipalities as well, in order to form an extensive system of integration which would be based on the local level, with an emphasize on assuring private accommodation within the municipalities."