On 21 January 2026, more than 1’000 individuals and their families in Slovenia were left without critical social assistance, leaving them unable to afford food and other basic necessities and pushing many into destitution. The punitive measure, introduced under the so-called «Security Law» passed in November 2025, allowed the authorities to seize social assistance from individuals who have accumulated at least three unpaid fines for misdemeanour offences over the past two years. This and other measures passed under the Act have disproportionately affected the Slovenian Roma community, who already face systemic discrimination in all spheres of life, including in employment, housing, and education. Amnesty International calls on the Slovenian authorities to immediately stop implementing and enforcing these punitive measures and amend the Act to comply with Slovenia’s human rights obligations.
The Act on Urgent Measures to Ensure Public Security («Security Law»), adopted by the Slovenian Parliament on 18 November 2025, allows the Slovenian Tax Authority to seize social assistance from individuals who have accumulated three unpaid fines for minor offences over a two-year period. The Act was introduced following a fatal incident involving a Roma individual and was accompanied by a populist public campaign that portrayed the entire Roma community as a collective security threat, generating political momentum for its rapid passage.
The Act removes crucial safeguards, and significantly expands the powers of the Tax Authority, police, and judiciary. In so doing it breaches several rights, including to social security, and privacy. Unlike ordinary enforcement regimes that restrict the proportion of a person’s income that is taken these measures impose no effective limits on deductions from social assistance. The Act’s rushed implementation in January 2026 lacked provisions which could have protected the most vulnerable, including alerting the Centres for Social Work to provide in-kind assistance to prevent destitution.
Under international law, including Article 9 of the UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) which Slovenia is bound by, everyone is entitled to an adequate level of social security in order to ensure an adequate standard of living for them and their family. The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR) has further affirmed that social security is indispensable to the enjoyment of a number of other rights including to food, housing, health, and life.
Amnesty International has long documented the marginalization of Roma communities in Slovenia, including substandard housing conditions, lack of access to basic utilities, and systemic barriers to education. The introduction and enforcement of this Act exacerbate existing inequalities and place families and individuals at immediate risk of severe material deprivation.
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→ SOCIAL MEDIA GUIDE
→ Please take action before 10 August 2026.
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