Postojna - A total of 20 orphans from Ukraine, aged 1-7, will arrive in Slovenia in the coming days to be accommodated near Postojna. Mayor Igor Marentič says that everything is ready for their arrival and that locals are offering their help on a daily basis to make the children feel as comfortable as possible in Slovenia.

The children will presumably arrive on the first day after the May Day holidays, at the start of next week, Katarina Štrukelj, the head of the Office for the Support and Integration of Migrants, told the STA. The Ukrainian authorities must still give a go-ahead for their relocation, she added.

They will then found shelter in Slavina village near Postojna in the south-west of the country.

The group includes orphans as well as unaccompanied children from the Luhansk orphanage No. 2 in eastern Ukraine. They will be accompanied to Slovenia by 18 staff members from the orphanage, including doctors and nurses, that will also bring their own children and help the children get used to the new environment.

They are expected to stay in Slovenia until the war in Ukraine ends.

The facility in Slavina where they will be accommodated is ready, and the living conditions there are "really good", Marentič told the STA, noting that the locals helped with everything.

He is proud of their willingness to offer help to those in need. To make the children fell extra welcomed, their Slovenian peers from the local kindergarten made sure toys will be awaiting them when they arrive.

The children will be medically examined immediately upon arrival, after which their guardians will apply for them to be granted the temporary protection status. They will be able to attend a local kindergarten and school.

Štrukelj noted the good cooperation between the Office and the local community and administration for civil protection, saying that the municipality had already done its share years ago when they provided accommodation for unaccompanied minors from Afghanistan and Syria.