The refugees from Eritrea, Syria and Afghanistan will be relocated from Italy and Greece, yet the two countries have not yet notified Slovenia of the group's arrival date.

Ten Eritrean refugees will come from Italy - nine men and one women. The remaining 30 will come from Greece, among them families from Syria and Afghanistan.

All of them have already passed security checks, the ministry explained.

Their status upon arriving in Slovenia will be that of an asylum seeker who has started relevant international protection procedure abroad, which should speed up the procedure in Slovenia.

Every asylum seeker will be processed individually, so not everyone will necessarily get refugee status, the ministry said.

They will be first situated at the asylum centre or one of its units, only to be moved to integration centres in Ljubljana and Maribor once granted the refugees status.

The centres provide support in adjusting to life in Slovenia, including welfare and education.

After a year, the refugees will be able to start life independently but with assistance of guardians who continue to oversee their integration.

Since the accommodation capacities are expected to suffice only until the end of this year, the ministry is looking for private homes to be rented out.

This year and next, Slovenia is to take in a total of 567 refugees who are currently located in Italy (218) and Greece (349).

The arrivals are planned in small groups, with the last one expected in September 2017.

The Slovenian government had decided to give priority to refugee families and unaccompanied minors.