In July 2013, two new groups of refugees arrived to Slovakia, both of whom the Slovak Republic provided with a temporary shelter on its territory. The refugees are temporarily accommodated in an Emergency Transit Centre (ETC) in Humenne which is set up in an asylum facility of the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic. During their stay in the Centre the refugees will undergo medical examinations, language courses and complete the preparation for their lives in new country.

The Centre can receive up to 150 refugees. They stay in the Centre for a period of 6 months and after successful completion of all steps they are resettled to a third country which accepts them and provides them with safe conditions for a new life. Both new groups of 79 Afghan refugees from Iran and 59 Somali refugees from Eritrea joined other four refugees staying in the Centre. The overall number of refugees accommodated in the Centre thus increased to 142, the highest number since the Centre was opened in 2009.

The photo is for illustrative purposes only, IOM Slovakia

The Afghan group is mainly composed of women and children who fled from Afghanistan to Iran between 1979 and 2000. Abuse, unstable economic conditions and widespread xenophobia did not allow for refugees’ stay in Iran. Given the uneasy situation in Afghanistan, the refugees’ return home was not possible either, and they had to be evacuated out of the country. The group of Somali refugees is made of families with children. They fled the conflict in Somalia and sought refuge in Eritrea. Many of them had lived in Eritrea since the 1990s, but as they were not provided with the needed protection; evacuation and resettlement to a different country represented the only solution to their situation. Since 2011, the Slovak Republic provided a temporary shelter on its territory to 169 Afghan and 193 Somali refugees. Out of these, 90 Afghans found new home in the United States of America and a great majority of the Somalis were resettled to the United States, Canada, and Norway.
 
The humanitarian transfer of refugees through the territory of the Slovak Republic is carried out based on the trilateral treaty between the Government of the Slovak Republic, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and International Organization for Migration (IOM). IOM is responsible for the transportation of refugees from a refugee camp to the Slovak Republic and from the Slovak Republic to a country of resettlement, as well as for services related to medical examinations, cultural orientation and/or language courses.

Until September 2013 IOM in cooperation with its partners resettled through the Transit centre 241 refugees from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iraq, Somalia and Sudan.

Activities of IOM in the project are financed by the by the US Government through its USRAP Program – United States Refugee Admissions Program or by similar programs of other resettlement countries.