UNHCR disappointed with new Slovenian asylum law

We are disappointed over the Slovene Parliament's vote on Monday in favour of amendments to the country's asylum law. When the amendments were announced, UNHCR warned that there was a real danger that they could lead to persons in need of international protection being deported to countries where their life or freedom is threatened, which is contrary to international law.

Slovenia is the latest country to downgrade its standards in the asylum law along the lines of the minimum standards in the EU qualification directive. When this directive was issued, UNHCR warned about the danger that EU countries would interpret it as setting the maximum standards whereas, in fact, it only sets minimum norms which member states are free to exceed. We urge all 25 EU member states to set higher standards as they transpose the EU legislation into their national laws.