According to the annual report of human rights NGO Amnesty International for Slovenia -  positive news from Slovenia included the enshrining of the right to clean water in the Constitution and the adoption of new civil-union and anti-discrimination legislation, the anti-refugee sentiment escalated throughout the year and culminated in the adoption of contentious changes to the aliens act in early 2017.

In March 2016, refugees were stripped of the EUR 288 one-off allowance that they received in the first month after being granted international protection.

"And in autumn, the Interior Ministry shocked [us] with the proposal of changes to the aliens act that shamelessly envisages violations of a series of recognised human rights stemming from international refugee law, human rights law and the Slovenian Constitution," the Slovenian branch of the NGO commented.

The aliens act allows parliament to declare a state of migration crisis, empowering the police, under certain limitations, to turn down people trying to enter Slovenia if they do not meet the criteria and if the country they are crossing from is considered a safe country.

Migrants and refugees are thus treated as a security threat and are denied civilisational rights, the NGO points out, urging Human Rights Ombudsman Vlasta Nussdorfer to file for a constitutional review of the changes to the aliens act.

The report further highlights the "toxic and dehumanised 'us-vs-them' rhetoric" used by politicians to create an increasingly divided and dangerous world.

Amnesty International Slovenia further said they were happy they managed to persuade the Interior Ministry to amend its changes to the law on police powers introducing the use of tasers, but regret that the government decided to introduce them at all without any real analysis on its necessity.

The NGO is also concerned by a new law on border control, which they say uncritically lowers the conditions for intrusion in passengers' privacy.

Moreover, the report also sees no real progress of Slovenia in the area of Roma rights, which have been prominent in Amnesty reports for several years.

The organisation is critical of the government for not addressing the challenges regarding the Roma with strategic measures, but rather with "short-term band aids".