Report on national migration policies and its impact on the situation of members of minorities in Slovenia

Transcription

1 Report on national migration policies and its impact on the situation of members of minorities in Slovenia Authors: Dr. Kristiana Toplak MA Mojca Vah Jevšnik Dr. Jure Gombač Slovenian Migration Institute at the Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts 2010 This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. 1

2 Report on the situation of allochtones in Slovenia I. Migration: history, trends, main groups 1. Short history of migration in the resp. country (emigration and immigration- who? how many? when? why?) The mass emigration of Slovenians to the overseas and European countries was characteristic for the entire 19th and early 20th centuries. In this period, mostly economic reasons for emigration prevailed. In the period between both World Wars, many Slovenians living under the Italian government left the country due to fascist repression and settled in Argentina, USA or elsewhere. After the Second World War a lot of people emigrated and mostly settled in European countries, Australia and South America; some because of economic or personal reasons, others due to fear of political repression of the then communist regime in Yugoslavia. Because of different census methodology and different travelling documents it is impossible to say how many Slovenians emigrated altogether. In 1991, the number of Slovenian citizens living abroad was After the Second World War, Slovenia also became a country of mass immigration, as citizens from the other parts of the common state of Yugoslavia immigrated to Slovenia in large numbers. In the 1960 s and 1970 s, the country was renowned as an attractive destination due to the political and military factors, and later due to the economic factors. (Mežnarić 1985) According to the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, there were Croats, Serbs, Montenegrins, Macedonians, Albanians, Muslims (Bosniaks), and Yugoslavs residing in Slovenia in After 1991, when Slovenia gained independence, the internal migrants became referred to as immigrants in the political, public and media discourse, although most of them obtained Slovenian citizenship. According to the last Slovenian census, persons with migration background (from the states of former Yugoslavia) lived in Slovenia in In the years 2000/2001, 4218 people immigrated, 2573 being from former Yugoslav republics, and 1645 from other countries. 2. Legal background, migration policy - who are the main groups of migrants? What categories does the current law specify? e.g. forced and voluntary migration? Only in 1999, Slovenian Parliament adopted the Resolution on immigration policy and in 2002, another Resolution on migration policy; both included the integration policy. (The Law 2

3 on Asylum Asylum Act and Law on Foreigners were both adopted in 1999, following the Law on Temporary Asylum from Current law specifies (economic) immigrants and asylum seekers. Immigrants are defined according to statuses: a) Immigrants with Slovenian citizenship, b) Immigrants without Slovenian citizenship (foreigners): divided in two subgroups 1) with permanent residence and 2) with temporary residence. 3. Recent statistics (How many people? rising/lowering trends? countries of origin? demography? level of education, social status?) In 2007, people immigrated to Slovenia, out of which were non-slovenians (most of them, i.e %, came from former Yugoslav republics, second were Bulgarians with 2.8 % and third were Slovaks with 1.6 %). The trend was rising from 2004 to 2008, approximately from 45 % to 50 % every year, but began decreasing in the last two years (*provisional data for 2009 shows that only people immigrated). Countries of origin mostly stay the same: ex-yugoslav republics, other EU countries, in smaller extent Ukraine, different Asian countries, etc. Reason for immigration is in most cases work. Immigrants education differs from highly educated to poorly or less educated, but their social status in Slovenia is in general relatively low. Another immigration episode includes the so-called erased citizens, mostly nationals of ex-yugoslav republics, who immigrated to Slovenia in the nineteen-sixties, seventies and eighties, but also extensive number of Roma people. In 1992, the Ministry of the Interior erased people from the register of the permanent residency holders, because they failed to apply for legal documents. By becoming the erased citizens many people were left without the right to obtain residence permits and consequently without economic, social and political rights. Some of them were therefore forced to re-migrate, those who stayed in Slovenia had to pretend they are refugees or even asylum-seekers; many became illegal. 4. Terminology used in legal documents, social sciences, and common language In Slovenia, the current term used for migrants is priseljenci - immigrants, but also migrant workers, foreigners, in common language also derogatory term Bosanc (that is Bosniac - meaning a rather dumb, non-acculturated person from the South), and also čefur (meaning a special subculture with specific clothing, behaviour, culture, and attitude towards the majority population, mainly used for the second generation immigrants from the former Yugoslav republics). II. Migrants: unequal opportunities, challenges for integration (1-1,5 pages) 3

4 1. Asylum seekers and refugees: legal procedure, housing situation, access to labour market, education and social services The sphere of asylum in Slovenia was developing in stages, especially after disintegration of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s and the associated arrival of refugees (some ). In 1997, the Law on the Temporary Asylum was passed and it introduced a special status for refugees, the so-called temporary asylum. According to the Law, a collective status was to be granted to individuals arriving in masses from a certain area. Three years later, some 2,000 people from Bosnia and Herzegovina who decided to stay in the country were granted permanent residence, and some of them applied for Slovenian citizenship after residing in the state for ten years. (Vrečer, 2007) At the end of 1999, at least 2,477 Albanians from Kosovo applied for asylum in Slovenia due to the outbreak of violence in Kosovo. In 1999, the Asylum Act was introduced, in which the procedures for acquiring the asylum were stipulated in a greater detail. The Act specified the rights and obligations of the persons entitled to the asylum according to the UN Convention on Refugees, and included all the resolutions and conclusions accepted by the EU member states. Asylum Home in Ljubljana opened in It is in charge of the accommodation of asylum seekers, providing care and implementing the provisions of the Asylum Act. But educational and training activities for asylum seekers so far remain scarce. Slovenian NGOs, especially Slovene Philanthropy offer help in learning Slovenian language and help with school work, provide information about Slovenian culture and society, organize women s self-help groups, organize social and cultural events, such as movie, music and dance nights, excursions, sports activities, encourage employment and offer the possibility of advocacy. Asylum seekers can apply for working permit in Slovenia only after one year spent in the country. The procedure is extremely complicated and the permit is not granted in all cases. Underage asylum seekers are offered support and encouragement with integration into the school system and local environment through the program Separated minor refugees. NGOs programs more or less aim at easing the long-lasting wait in the asylum home and offer assistance with the first contacts with the local population. Activities that would be more long-term and integrationoriented are very limited. The number of granted asylum statuses in Slovenia is one of the lowest in the European Union. According to international organizations, e.g. Amnesty International, this is one of the 4

5 most serious problems of the Slovenian migration policy. Asylum is granted only to 0.9 percent of all applicants, which places Slovenia on the second last place among the EU countries. Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Slovenia (MIRS) claims that until 2009, refugee status was granted to 170 individuals. Most of them arrived from the area of former Yugoslavia, former Soviet Union, Africa and Iran. Asylum seekers have to pass two interviews and asylum is granted exclusively when life of the seeker is severely threatened due to political reasons. After being granted the refugee status, the former asylum seekers may apply for permanent residency and thus have the same rights to social and health care, employment and education, as Slovenian citizens. MIRS assigns an integration counsellor to every refugee, who prepares a personal integration plan for duration of one year, taking into consideration refugee s skills, knowledge, capabilities and interests. The plan includes learning about Slovenian culture, history and constitution of the Republic of Slovenia, learning Slovenian language, getting an education or training to increase employment opportunities, finding possibilities for employment, work and accommodation, and social integration into a local community. Refugees are entitled to integration advice and assistance for three years after being granted a refugee status. All these measures are not successfully implemented in practice. Every asylum seeker should receive extensive oral and written information about the asylum procedure in Slovenia, but actually many were not sufficiently informed and did not understand the procedure. Also, the integration advisors do not have enough knowledge and experience in the field of refugee law. Refugees emphasized the two main problems: difficult admission into the Slovenian education system, and a complete personal, social and economic dependence on the responsible institutions, in this case MIRS. Governmental organs do not organize Slovenian language lectures soon enough, hindering some individuals from inclusion into the education system, where mastering Slovenian language is a precondition for enrolment. This poses major obstacle for the integration of adolescents, as many of them, mostly aged from 15 to 18 are not able to enter the education system due to not knowing the language. Furthermore, most employment ads are in Slovenian language. The only possible jobs are then cleaning or maintenance - the occupations where language skills are not necessary. It is therefore understandable that successful integration is only possible when mastering the language. When they were still asylum seekers they could learn the language with the help of volunteers, but upon being granted a refugee status they have to wait for language courses for several months. In addition, hours of state sponsored language learning are not enough. 5

6 Problems arise also in regard to the temporary and permanent residency address. After moving out from the Asylum Home, most refugees face several problems when trying to find appropriate accommodation. The first problem is the price and significant rent down payment. Those refugees who are not willing to stay at the Integration House 1 are entitled to a one year subvention for rent, but they do not get the money in advance. In addition, Centre for Integration does not make the financial transaction until they receive the rent contract, and landlords do not want to sign the contract until they receive some money. Refugees are also required to obtain the permanent residency address, but this is very hard in Slovenia since most of landlords prefer individuals who do not need to change their permanent residence address. After the required time spent in the Integration house, the refugees are entitled to a two-year subvention for rent, but the amount of money received does not cover the costs. Another problem is medical insurance and financial assistance. Refugees are not included in the public health system and are not issued the health insurance card. All those refugees who are not able to find employment receive a financial assistance of 300 Euros per month, for three consecutive years. 2. Voluntary migrants: access to housing, labour market, education and social services The reason for voluntary immigration to Slovenia is in most cases work. A few companies that employ immigrants are willing to provide the housing for reasonable prices. Some construction companies and small entrepreneurs often even gain profit with immigrant housing, putting them in shared rooms and renting the apartments for high prices. For an immigrant without a well paid job and social network to help him/her, it is especially difficult to find appropriate accommodation. Immigrants education differs from highly educated to poorly or less educated, but in general their social status is relatively low in Slovenia. Even with work permits and permanent residency, the access to labour market is restricted, mainly because of language insufficiency, employers not acknowledging their education, nepotism, etc. Most immigrants have to take low-paid jobs in construction, public- or home-care, agriculture, industry, a small number work in the medical sector, etc. Due to the recent economic crisis, the situation of immigrant workers got worse. Immigrants on temporary work contracts were made redundant and left without any social protection. Several hundred, mostly from Bosnia and Herzegovina, had to return home, because they received no payment 1 There are two Integration houses in Slovenia (in Ljubljana and Maribor) that help refugees with the process of integration into the Slovene society (for one year after being granted the status of a refugee). The refugees are given the opportunity to learn Slovene language and several other subjects, and offered social service aid. Initially, Slovenia planned to build three Integration Houses, but finally concluded that in view of the number of persons being granted the status of refugees, two would suffice. 6

7 for several months, were left without social and health insurance, and even without money for food. Several NGOs and The Slovenian Trade Union Association are struggling to ease the situation, but cannot change the rigid system. Education and social services are formally accessible to all, but in practice they are not adjusted to migrants needs. There is also scarce financial support, etc. Schools do not have systematic governmental support to educate children with migration background; there are very few language courses for adults and a lot of them are during working hours. There is only one health centre for people without health insurance in Slovenia. 3. Acceptance by the host society: issues of xenophobia, discrimination The majority in Slovenia still perceive Slovenian nation as nationally, culturally and religiously homogenous. According to the national public opinion surveys, most Slovenians would prefer to live in ethnically homogeneous environments and are reluctant towards other cultural practices (e.g. against building mosques, Roma residing in their neighbourhoods, etc.). On the normative level, primary education is accessible to all children residing in Slovenia, regardless of their status: migrants without citizenship, asylum seekers, refugees, and children of undocumented parents who are waiting for state s decision regarding their legal status. III. (Un-)equal opportunities in school (autochtonous vs.allochtonous pupils) 1. Statistics, trends (How many students, where?) According to the data provided by the Slovenian Ministry of Education and Sport, 886 pupils (772 of these coming from the states in the former Yugoslav territories) have been registered in Slovene primary schools in the academic year 2008/2009. That is less than 1% of the total population. Less than half (195 out of the total of 449) of Slovenian schools have reported to educate migrant children and requested resources for additional professional support for these children. Schools with larger numbers of migrant children are mainly located in major urban areas, but also in smaller (rural) areas. The above numbers can be compared with the statistical data provided by the Slovenian Ministry of the Interior. In the end of ,84% residents of Slovenia were defined as foreigners (without Slovenian citizenship). In the age group 6 14, which roughly corresponds to primary school (compulsory years of schooling), foreigners represent 1,66 % (2.792 out of ). For comparison: a non representative survey, carried out in April 2006 by the National Education Institute Slovenia, showed that the number of students (1.997) born in Slovenia, 7

8 whose first language is different from the language of schooling, is about twice as high as the number of students with the status of foreign residents (993). As for the country of origin most of the immigrant pupils come from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Serbia, China and a smaller number from Estonia, Ukraine, Argentina, Austria, Australia, Belarus, Brazil, Denmark, Dominican Republic, France, Guinea, Italy, Ireland, Japan, South Africa, Moldavia, Germany, Netherlands, Slovakia, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom and USA. (Zorman, Mirko Pupils who belong to a minority do not have equal opportunities in school. 2. Do pupils who belong to a minority have the same opportunities in school than majority pupils? In practice, pupils with migration background in most cases do not have the same opportunities in school as their school mates with a non-migration background. The first and foremost problem is language and how it is taught. Even additional language hours are not enough for a successful integration. In worst case, pupils with migration background who have language difficulties are treated as pupils with special needs or pupils with learning difficulties in general. Furthermore, some schools argue that pupils with migration background tend to have behaviour problems due to the fact that they come from other cultural and social environments. Even pupils who are born in Slovenia and have different mother tongue than Slovenian are due to their migration background treated as behaviourally incompetent and are recommended to continue their education on less demanding vocational schools. Their social roles and status are therefore ascribed. In general, pupils with migration background are forced to work more and harder to catch up with their peers. They have to prove they deserve the same opportunities as non-migrant pupils and often have to fight against soft discrimination (in grading, school progress, etc). There is a mental distinction between good pupils and bad pupils in schools that reflect the general opinion in the Slovenian society and media; first being from developed, rich western countries or exotic countries, latter being from the less developed, poor South, i.e former Yugoslavia. Although the Ministry for education, education legislation and schools promote diversity, there is still not enough done in the field of developing intercultural competences of teachers and pupils, in promoting diversity and changing the teaching approaches. A few enthusiastic and open minded educators alone cannot enable the progress of disadvantaged pupils that are often pupils with migration background. 8

9 IV. Actions for more justice in school 1. What has to be done to improve the current, possibly unequal opportunity-situation in the area of education? The rigid system of education has to be changed. In the Slovenian school system it is more important to follow the curricula and meet the required standards than to educate sensible, critical and considerate pupils. Schools need to provide a multilingual support for both teacher and pupils, the school system should be less competitive and productivity oriented, there should be a collaboration between schools and immigrant ethnic communities or individual persons with the same ethnic background as pupils, the differentiated approach to learning on the basis of inclusion, not exclusion, is needed, more training courses for teachers should be organised, there should be extensive implementation of intercultural competences and education into higher education, with a special focus on teacher training. Within the curriculum, the integrated intercultural approach is important in order to help children to develop the ability to recognise inequality, injustice, racism, prejudice, etc. and teach them how to respond. The integrated approach refers to the inclusion of examples and case studies from different cultures in as many teaching subjects as possible. 2. Best practices please describe examples that you know of 1. Teachers as multiplicators teacher training on intercultural competences with the aim that the attending teachers forward their knowledge to their fellow colleagues in the form of teacher training. 2. Collaboration between schools and local communities working together with immigrant ethnic communities or educated individuals, NGOs or even embassies to support pupils with migration background in learning, gaining self respect, keeping in contact with mother tongue, as well as educating all pupils and school staff about diversity. 3. Bottom-up educational development supporting the schools to take active part in developing research and teaching programmes for pupils with migration background and other underprivileged groups. 9