On 12 November 2020, an Emergency Session of the Commission for Petitions, Human Rights and Equal Opportunities of the Republic of Slovenia was held on the topic of border violence and the situation at the Centre for Foreigners in Postojna.

The only item on the agenda was "Illegal police proceedings, violation of human rights and inhumane treatment of asylum seekers at the Centre for Foreigners in Postojna". Members of the Infokolpa group and the Border Violence Monitoring Network were also invited to the meeting. They said:

"...due to violations of fundamental rights at police stations and the Centre for Foreigners and mass deportations to Croatia, we are witnessing a state crime, which is subject to general taboo and amnesia. The government is even trying to legalise existing violations by reforming the Foreigners Act and the International Protection Act.

The authorities, which are supposed to act in the name of protecting human rights, do not take action and limit themselves to naive recommendations. Also, the Specialised State Prosecutor's office is unable to investigate the liability of persons who have signed instructions on illegal conduct, because such instructions cannot be prosecuted as it is the task of an individual police officer to reject an illegal instruction. As a result, individual police officers are alleged to be responsible for the illegal conduct, even though instructions for systematic violations come from the top of the Ministry and the Police".

Given the situation evidenced, the following recommendations were proposed:

1. End collective deportations to Croatia;
2. Introduce independent monitoring of procedures at police stations as soon as possible, and conduct an investigation into liability for systematic violations of fundamental rights;
3. Suspend the policy of detaining asylum seekers and gradually close down the Centre for Foreigners;
4. Develop an asylum policy based on the principles of integration and solidarity.

Find out more.

Read about a report produced by Slovenia's Ombudsman on the conditions at the Centre for Foreigners in Postojna.