Insight News Television recently reported on the cases of Slovenian citizens who have been officially 'erased' from all public records. After the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, thousands of 'non-ethnic' Slovenians have lost their administrative identities, and the social security benefits, pensions, insurance, and visa and travel rights that follow from them. People like Ziva Simeunovic, who was born and raised in Slovenia, have had their passports confiscated, and can only stay in the country on one-month visitor's visas. After gaining independence from Yugoslavia, Slovenian authorities demanded that non-ethnic Slovenians, who had been citizens all their lives, apply for citizenship. Many failed to do so in the six-month window allotted, and the UN High Commissioner of Refugees estimates that 56,000 people remain 'erased', completely denied their rights as citizens. Many of those who did report had their documents confiscated and destroyed.
