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International Migrants Day

About 250,000 persons born abroad are living in Slovenia, 38% of whom immigrated in the last ten years
Many immigrants work in manufacturing or construction sector in Slovenia

Many immigrants work in manufacturing or construction sector in Slovenia | Author Tamino Petelinšek, STA

Do recent immigrants, i.e. who immigrated in the last ten years (38%), differ by their characteristics and living conditions from those who immigrated before the independence of Slovenia (45%) or from those who immigrated in 1991–2017 (17%)?

The International Migrants Day has been celebrated since 2000; 18 December was selected in memory of the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families on 18 December 1990. The name of the Convention itself shows that employment (work) was recognized as the main motive for migration.

At the beginning of 2018, there were about 250,000 persons born abroad living in Slovenia and they represent 12.1% of the total population. Such a share of immigrants ranks Slovenia 16th among EU-28 Member States. The share of persons born abroad was the highest in Luxembourg (46.5%) and the lowest in Poland (1.8%). Slovenia belongs to a group of countries (together with Croatia, Sweden and the Netherlands) with the highest share of immigrants with reporting country citizenship. The most immigrants with country’s citizenship are recorded in Croatia (due to prevailing immigration of ethnic Croats from Bosnia and Herzegovina). On the other hand, in Luxembourg only few immigrants acquire citizenship, mostly due to temporary employment in different European institutions.

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