Slovenia's "erased" have right to compensation

BELGRADE Based on the European Court of Human Rights' ruling, all citizens that Slovenia erased from the register of residents in 1992 have the right to compensation. This is on condition that they submit to the Slovenian bodies a request for return of the right to permanent residence, it was underlined at a meeting in Belgrade that was organized by for RECOM Initiative on Tuesday. Slovenia's "erased" have right to compensation Aleksandar Todorovic, a founder and member of the presidency of the Civil Initiative of the Erased Residents of Slovenia, noted that there are over 2,000 citizens in Serbia whose names were removed from the register of Slovenian residents against their will, and called on them to send a request for permanent residence, even if they do not have all the documents. It is important that these citizens file a request by July 24 so that the court in Strasbourg could take them into consideration and the state of Slovenia compensate for the unpaid child allowances, pensions and seized apartments, he said. It will be possible to add some necessary documents at a later date, Todorovic said, adding that it is vital that these citizens put in a request on time so that their children could inherit all kinds of compensation, in case of the death of a parent. The so-called "erased" could make a request for permanent residence to the Slovenian administrative unit, that is police in the place where they lived or where they would like to live upon their return, said Igor Mekina, executive director of the Slovenian NGO Civic Link. The Slovenian tax for submitting such a request is quite high and amounts to EUR 96, he said, adding that nevertheless it would be good to pay it, as the non-material compensation amounts to EUR 20,000, while the material compensation, which is yet to be determined by the court, will be even higher. Mekina noted that over 26,000 citizens had their residence rights taken away in Slovenia on February 26, 1992, thus having been denied the right to work, social protection, so their status at the time was worse than that of refugees. Slovenia refused twice to give an approval for the setting up of a commission that would examine why the removal took place in the first place and on what grounds, Mekina noted. The states in the region were not active in resolving the issue of "the erased", and are acting as if that was just Slovenia's problem, Mekina said, concluding that joint efforts should be put in determining the truth, compiling the report and presenting it to the Slovenian parliament so that injustice could be remedied. Todorovic (L) and Mekina (R), along with Natasa Kandic, at the news conference (Beta) Tanjug

Slovenia's "erased" have right to compensation

Aleksandar Todorović, a founder and member of the presidency of the Civil Initiative of the Erased Residents of Slovenia, noted that there are over 2,000 citizens in Serbia whose names were removed from the register of Slovenian residents against their will, and called on them to send a request for permanent residence, even if they do not have all the documents.

It is important that these citizens file a request by July 24 so that the court in Strasbourg could take them into consideration and the state of Slovenia compensate for the unpaid child allowances, pensions and seized apartments, he said.

It will be possible to add some necessary documents at a later date, Todorović said, adding that it is vital that these citizens put in a request on time so that their children could inherit all kinds of compensation, in case of the death of a parent.

The so-called "erased" could make a request for permanent residence to the Slovenian administrative unit, that is police in the place where they lived or where they would like to live upon their return, said Igor Mekina, executive director of the Slovenian NGO Civic Link.

The Slovenian tax for submitting such a request is quite high and amounts to EUR 96, he said, adding that nevertheless it would be good to pay it, as the non-material compensation amounts to EUR 20,000, while the material compensation, which is yet to be determined by the court, will be even higher.

Mekina noted that over 26,000 citizens had their residence rights taken away in Slovenia on February 26, 1992, thus having been denied the right to work, social protection, so their status at the time was worse than that of refugees.

Slovenia refused twice to give an approval for the setting up of a commission that would examine why the removal took place in the first place and on what grounds, Mekina noted.

The states in the region were not active in resolving the issue of "the erased", and are acting as if that was just Slovenia's problem, Mekina said, concluding that joint efforts should be put in determining the truth, compiling the report and presenting it to the Slovenian parliament so that injustice could be remedied.