Interior Ministry: 56 People Currently Seeking Asylum in Slovakia

Interior Ministry: 56 People Currently Seeking Asylum in Slovakia
Bratislava, June 7 (TASR) – There are 56 asylum seekers in Slovakia at the moment, Michaela Paulenova of the Interior Ministry’s press department told TASR on Thursday.
Sixty-four people have applied for asylum in Slovakia since the beginning of the year. Slovakia has granted asylum to one person, while five more have been granted supplementary protection.

People who applied for asylum in Slovakia have been placed in temporary accommodation centres in Opatovska Nova Ves (Banska Bystrica region) and Rohovce (Trnava region), as well as in the reception centre in Humenne (Presov region). All three facilities come under the Interior Ministry’s Migration Office. Twenty-nine people are applying for asylum in Opatovska Nova Ves, 20 in Rohovce and seven in Humenne.
People who belong to the so-called humanitarian transfer have been placed in Humenne as well. Slovakia has been involved in humanitarian transfers since 2009. “Five resettled people have been placed in the Humenne centre to date. These people aren’t seeking asylum in Slovakia, they’re under the protection of UNHCR. They came to Slovakia under a trilateral Agreement between the Slovak Government, UNHCR and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) on transfers of refugees who need international protection via Slovakia,” said Paulenova.
The resettled remain in Slovakia for six months, preparing for their resettlement in the target country, mainly the USA or Canada. They’ll be integrated in a third country, stated Paulenova. Slovakia provides them with accommodation, food and basic sanitary needs, while other expenditures related to their stay on Slovak territory are covered by partners.
Since 2009, Slovakia has been providing capacity to help manage a difficult situation mainly for vulnerable refugees, such as mothers with children who found themselves in conflict zones and needed to be immediately evacuated. “Only two EU countries provide humanitarian transfers, and this kind of aid to vulnerable refugees – Slovakia and Romania. Safe resettlement programmes have their meaning, and there’s only been positive feedback on this kind of assistance so far,” added Paulenova.