Over 1,000 refugees already resettled via Slovakia since 2009: IOM

Over 1,000 refugees have been resettled via the Emergency Transit Center in Humenne, eastern Slovakia since 2009, the Slovak branch of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced on Friday.

The agency added that refugees are heading with its assistance via Slovakia mainly to the United States, Canada and Norway.

Slovakia provided temporary shelter to 1,043 refugees in Humenne between 2009 and 2017. The IOM transported them from refugee camps in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) also participated in their resettlement and included the refugees in a program called "The Humanitarian Transfer of Refugees via Slovakia."

"More than half of the refugees transported to the Humenne center have been Somalis. Refugees have also gone there from Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Iraq, Palestine and Sudan. A major portion of them are families with small children or single mothers, so people who can neither return to their home country, nor continue to live in the country of initial asylum and need immediate protection," said the IMO´s Slovak branch head Zuzana Vatralova.

The capacity of the Humenne center is 250 people, and it serves as a temporary shelter for the most vulnerable groups of refugees under the UNHCR's protection. They can stay there for a maximum of six months in order to undergo preparation for resettlement in safe conditions.

The preparation comprises of a medical examination, a series of vaccinations and training in cultural orientation that prepares refugees for life in a new country. Endit