Slovenia's Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX), which measures policies to integrate migrants, is above the EU average and the highest among the EU newcomers, according to a survey presented on Thursday by the Ljubljana Faculty of Social Sciences and the British Council.
The MIPEX survey, the most comprehensive survey on the rights of legal migrants, puts Slovenia at the 11th place among the EU-25 countries (the EU without Romania and Bulgaria), Norway, Switzerland and Canada.
The index with more than 140 indicators compares legislation in individual countries, and represents a multi-dimensional picture of migrants' opportunities to participate in European societies, comparing the existing practices with the best ones.
The index covers six policy areas: possibilities for obtaining a long-term residence, labour market access, family reunion, political participation, access to citizenship and anti-discrimination.
One of the authors of the survey, Thomas Huddleston of the Brussels-based Migration Policy Group, said that Slovenia had been pursuing the best practices in its migration policies, which was reflected in the good result among the 28 countries and the EU newcomers.
Slovenia has fared best in terms of family reunion, placing 5th on the list. In terms of labour market accessibility, Slovenia is slightly above the average, while the main problem is the recognition of professional qualifications of migrants, which is usually too expensive.
Slovenia received the fewest "points" in the area of political participation of migrants, as it provides together with four EU newcomers the least political freedom. Long-term residents (living in Slovenia at least for five years) are not allowed to run at local elections and only have the right to vote.
The country with the highest MIPEX is Sweden, followed by other Scandinavian countries, the Western European countries, and the Western Mediterranean countries, such as Portugal, Italy and Spain, while Latvia, Cyprus and Austria placed last.
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