The Police Directorate Ljubljana has recently confirmed that it has filed a criminal complaint against an unidentified perpetrator on suspicion of raping a minor. The crime allegedly took place at the beginning of May in the Vič asylum centre, which is bursting at the seams due to overcrowding. According to Katarina Štrukelj, Director of the Government Office for the Support and Integration of Migrants, the minor arrived in Slovenia with her parent and a relative, and they were all accommodated together, the N1 media outlet reports. The victim of the crime was moved to safety. No further details were disclosed, in order to protect the minor victim. Will the Minister of the Interior finally realise her mistake? “It is utterly despicable that they justify rape in this way, instead of asking who are the people we are letting into the country,” said economist and former Minister Dr Matej Lahovnik, in response to the report of the Dnevnik news show on the national media outlet Radio-Television Slovenia – namely, on the show, the presenter wondered whether the rape might have been the result of the poor conditions in the asylum centre.
The Director of the Government Office for the Support and Integration of Migrants also told the media that the situation in the asylum centre was becoming increasingly unbearable, as the number of asylum seekers was far higher than the asylum centre’s accommodation capacity. According to official figures, on the 20th of July, 343 people were accommodated there, while the capacity of the asylum home is only 230 people. According to some data, this figure was recently even higher. However, this should in no way be an “excuse” for rape, which is what the national media outlet’s news show Dnevnik seems to believe. “The host of the Dnevnik TV show on RTV Slovenia: ‘Is the bad situation in the asylum centre in Vič also the reason for the high-profile case of suspected rape?’ WTF??? You do not like the food there – and you rape a minor? It is overcrowded – and you rape a minor? Hello, what are the people at RTV thinking?!” a Reporter magazine journalist Nenad Glücks was appalled by RTV Slovenia’s reporting.
The asylum home was intended for men only, the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) reports, but at the moment, there are also women and children there. According to the media reports, the rule only applies to those who have “regulated papers,” and many applicants – men, women and children, who do not yet have a regulated status, are also accommodated in the asylum centre. Publicly available data show that 725 migrants were newly accommodated in Slovenia in June alone, and even more – 735 – in May. However, the Vič asylum centre, the accommodation on Kotnikova street in the centre of Ljubljana, and the accommodation centre in Logatec are all available for accommodation, but, according to the STA web portal, the latter is currently mainly being used for Ukrainian refugees.
Despite everything, the Minister is tearing down the fence
This latest crime is just one in a series of crimes taking place near and within Slovenia’s borders. Outside Slovenia’s borders, arrests are on the rise, with security authorities seizing weapons and firearms, in some cases even automatic weapons. But despite everything, the Minister of the Interior, Tatjana Bobnar, is continuing with the removal of the fence on the border with Croatia, which not only acts as a protective element but also as a deterrent, sending the message that the law must be respected on the soil of the Republic of Slovenia.
Andrej Žitnik
