The Migration Office of the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), as members of EMN Slovakia, organised a thematic meeting titled Cultural Orientation in the Context of International Protection on 2 June 2026 in Bratislava. Representatives of the Czech and Slovak Ministries of Interior, the non-governmental sector and the international organisation presented current approaches, methods and trends in the field of cultural orientation for asylum applicants and beneficiaries of international protection granted in the form of asylum or subsidiary protection.
Experts from the Refugee Facilities Administration of the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic, the Migration Office of the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic, the Slovak Humanitarian Council and the Migration Information Centre of IOM Slovakia shared their experience in this area. The Migration Information Centre also presented approaches from other European countries. The Migration Office introduced a new basic cultural orientation course currently under preparation, which will be implemented in connection with the new Act on International Protection, effective as of 12 June 2026. EMN Slovakia also presented its recent publications and outputs related to the topic.
At the end of the meeting, participants from the Migration Office had the opportunity to work with selected model situations in practice during a workshop and discuss possible ways of addressing them. The workshop thus linked expert knowledge with specific situations that staff may encounter in their work.
Photo © International Organization for Migration (IOM) 2026.
