Devastating floods have struck Slovenia. Among the many volunteers who came to help the victims, there were also asylum seekers. In Sneberje, a village near Ljubljana, they helped the residents clean and clear the flooded houses. After the volunteer actions ended, the asylum seekers stayed, and their relationship with the residents completely changed.
Last August, Slovenia experienced the biggest natural disaster in its history since its independence. The devastating floods in the middle of summer, at a time when the country was more accustomed to dealing with fires and drought, affected nearly two-thirds of the country. The water swept away bridges and houses. 12,000 buildings were flooded and damaged. The total cost of damages and rehabilitation was estimated at nearly 10 billion euros, which is close to two-thirds of the annual state budget. These climate changes herald a new era...
The initiative came from the asylum seekers
Like everyone else, asylum seekers temporarily housed in Slovenia followed the floods in the media. "They saw that people needed help, the initiative came from them. They turned to us and the next day, we went there," remembers Miha Blažič from Ambasada Rog. This non-profit organization works on the ground with asylum seekers and advocates for their rights at borders, government offices, and workplaces. The asylum seekers arrived in Sneberje, a completely flooded village on the outskirts of Ljubljana, the first weekend after the disaster, when crowds of volunteers from all over Slovenia came to help the victims. "We were a bit out of place in that crowd. At first, it all seemed a bit strange. But soon, we integrated into the work teams," Blažič recalls. First, the flooded houses had to be cleaned, then all the wooden parts and water-soaked insulation had to be removed. "We were breaking walls, removing the soil... The work was hard and dirty," describes Blažič.
A more positive judgment on asylum seekers
"The residents were initially scared and wary of their presence. In this environment, people are not accustomed to migrants." But the situation changed gradually. People started inviting them into their homes. As life slowly returned to normal and other volunteers were no longer coming as massively to the flooded areas, the asylum seekers in Sneberje stayed. The residents would ask them if they would come back the next day, the elderly people had particularly grown fond of them. "Will you come back? We should still do this. Will that boy who was here yesterday come back today?" Blažič remembers.
Some asylum seekers exchanged contacts with local residents, called them, and asked if they still needed help, reaching out again if necessary. "Even when we no longer organized transportation, some would go there by bus on their own." This is how organized help turned into informal and friendly assistance, described Blažič. "If you ask people in Sneberje today, no one has a negative judgment about their presence." We were very surprised by the positive effect of this volunteer action.
Most of the 50 asylum seekers who helped the residents of Sneberje, are still in the country. Some are in the process of extradition, while others are undergoing procedures to determine their right to international protection. For most migrants, Slovenia is just a transit country they pass through on the route to the Western Balkans. Only a handful of them are considering staying and building a life here.
Franci Zlatar, director of Slovenska filantropija, a non-governmental organization for the promotion of volunteering, believes that it is essential for foreigners living in Slovenia to get involved in some way in case of disasters. "It is very important for them to participate in daily life, to connect with the population. Personal contact is essential and changes the perspective of many people. They see them in a different light, as ordinary people, not different from them. This is the only way that the fear of the unknown, of people from other cultures, can be eliminated. Asylum seekers have shown great willingness to help after floods. We must also keep this in mind on days when we witness new hostilities, especially in the search for new locations for asylum centers."