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First refugees as part of EU relocation scheme arrive in Slovenia

Xinhua, May 13, 2016 Adjust font size:

The first group of 28 refugees as part of the EU's relocation scheme arrived at the Brnik airport here from Greece on Thursday, starting their new life in the European country.

The refugees, who are from Syria and Iraq, will be taken to the asylum center in the capital city of Ljubljana. Once they get refugee status, they will be settled in Ljubljana and Maribor, the second largest city of the nation.

As the asylum-seekers have requested international protection in Greece, they are expected to be processed relatively quickly, according to the Slovenian Interior Ministry.

This year and the next, Slovenia is to take in a total of 567 refugees who are currently located in Italy (218) and Greece (349). The arrivals are planned in small groups, with the last one expected in September 2017.

Currently, there are also 340 migrants in Slovenia who came to the country with the masses of people mostly transiting between the autumn 2015 and early this year. They are mostly staying in centers in Ljubljana and Postojna.

Since last September, a total of 663 of these people have requested international protection, with asylum being granted to 13 of them.

Overall, a total of 20 asylum requests have been granted this year. These include requests that were filed before the migration wave started. Five people were granted subsidiary protection.

Those seeking asylum in Slovenia mostly come from Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq, police data show. Endit