Unaccompanied minor asylum seekers and participation in everyday life

Unaccompanied minor asylum seekers receive little attention by the media and the general public, which is why I decided to look into and clarify their situation in Slovenia. In the theoretical part legal issues concerning refugee policy, the origin, numbers and vulnerability of asylum seekers in Slovenia and the rest of the world are explained. Furthermore the topic of participation is presented from different points of view. The second, empirical part of the thesis is aimed to find out which institutions work with minor asylum seekers and what kind of work they do. Another goal is to find out what participation possibilities unaccompanied minors in everyday life and in legal issues actually have and what participation means to them. Unaccompanied minor asylum seekers are placed in an asylum home on the outskirts of Ljubljana, which provides them with basic care under the auspices of the Ministry of Home affairs. The centre for social work is responsible for assigning legal guardians to minors and the NGO Slovene Philanthropy offers psychosocial support. Minor asylum seekers are therefore integrated in institutions and organisations and limited by their restrictions and offers. Formally it is possible for them to influence their life and make decisions about it, but changes come slowly and when they do, they are small. In the conclusion a suggestion is offered and discussed on how to work with unaccompanied minor asylum seekers in a more appropriate way