Illustrative stock photo (source: SME)
This day is an opportunity to acknowledge those who cannot return to their homes and try to create conditions for life in a new country, said Michaela Paulenová of the Interior Ministry’s press department, adding that the refugees who are located in Slovakia receive the care in accordance with international commitments.
The Interior Ministry’s Migration Office is responsible for asylum policy in Slovakia. Paulenová specified that most of the 650 people came from Afghanistan and Iraq, the TASR newswire wrote.
Currently, the Migration Office, in cooperation with the Slovak Catholic Charity, is assisting with the integration of approximately 120 people granted international protection. They provide help with accommodation, the Slovak language, finding work and legal, psychological and social counselling.
“The focus is to ensure that refugees take responsibility for their lives in a new country and don’t rely on the welfare system,” Paulenová said, as quoted by TASR, adding that refugees enrich Slovakia with their culture and different perception of the world.
She went on saying that refugees are “part of any democratic society, have the same fears, desires and hopes as we do”.
“Our goal is to live decently together in a peaceful and secure world,” Paulenová said, adding that World Refugee Day is not just about a single day, but about all days, when refugees in Slovakia have to deal with hundreds of small or bigger problems and need help.
