Pilot project involves local community, NGOs in integration of refugees

 A pilot project carried out as part of the EU-funded project Embracin has involved the local community and non-governmental organisations in the integration of refugees. The results show migrants in Slovenia have poor prospects for integration.

he integration model is based on the notion, developed in Italy, that it is possible within two years to socially and economically integrate six refugees per 5,000 population with an individualised approach and the involvement of six experts from various fields.

In Slovenia, eight refugees from Syria and Iran were involved in integration in the Hoče-Slivnica municipality. They became independent and forged ties with the local population, Martina Vrhovac, municipal coordinator of the project, told the press on Monday.

Matod Dolinšek of the Maribor branch of the Red Cross, which was also involved in the project, said this was an innovative approach that involved the civil society and individuals directly helping refugees integrate.

It has become clear during the course of the project that people are willing to help refugees, but the prospects for integration are very poor due to numerous obstacles and complex administrative procedures.

Another reason is that for many refugees Slovenia is a transit country, according to Špela Kastelic of the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

“Many of those who request international protection here wait very long for a decision and leave before it is reached,” she said, adding that Slovenia was relatively unwelcoming to migrants “regardless of who is in power”.

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