Slovakia will accept only Christian refugees from Syria, as part of a relocation among EU member states, according to a report on BBC news website. It quotes the Slovak Interior Ministry spokesman Ivan Netik, who said that "Muslim refugees won't feel at home in Slovakia, as there aren't any mosques here". Other European media refer to the statement.
BBC News as well as Belgian news agency Belga have pointed out that Slovakia - which had refused obligatory quotas on refugee relocation - is willing to accept 200 Christians from refugee camps in Turkey, Greece and Italy.
This stance has caused a wave of criticism. According to the lawyer Zuzana Števulová from the Human Rights League NGO, it is not possible to prefer refugees due to their religion. "Because it is clearly a way how to discriminate people so usually the resettlement program works in co-operation with UNHCR," said Števulová for RSI. As she continued, the UNHCR suggest to the country which people shall be resettled. " Usually the priority is given to the most vulnerable ones such as single mothers with young children or families with small children," concluded Zuzana Števulová.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had called on European countries to adopt a so-called 'inclusive approach' towards refugees.
Thorbjorn Jagland, Secretary-General of the 47-member Council of Europe, condemned Slovakia's announced selection of only Christian refugees. "Refusing refugees on the grounds of their religion is blatant discrimination. Slovakia should reverse its position", posted Jagland on his Twitter account.
European Commission spokesperson Annika Breidthardt said she won't comment directly on Slovakia's position, however, she communicated that European Union member states are prohibited from any form of discrimination.
The news agency Belga also pointed out that the Slovak Interior Ministry spokesman isn't the first one to have announced similar statements - Belga reminded that Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico associated Muslim refugees with a heightened risk of terrorism. Belga also stressed that Slovakia isn't alone in having this position, as similar statements have been increasingly heard from Poland, Latvia and Lithuania.
The 1951 UN Refugee Convention and 1967 Protocol are two legislative norms signed by Slovakia after its succession from Czechoslovakia. Article 3 reads that the Contracting States shall apply the provisions of this Convention to refugees without discrimination as to race, religion or country of origin. Following the Article 4, The Contracting States shall accord to refugees within their territories treatment at least as favourable as that accorded to their nationals with respect to freedom to practice their religion and freedom as regards the religious education of their children.
