(GENEVA) - The United Nations refugee agency on Monday criticised Slovenia's new asylum law for failing to meet international legal standards and putting asylum seekers at risk of detention or deportation.

Slovenia -- which swiftly rejected the criticism -- brought its new law into force on Friday, saying it was drafted in line with EU asylum directives, following its entry into the bloc in 2005.

"We now have a law that in transposing European Union directives is actually reducing legal standards below international levels and restricting the prospects of asylum seekers to find protection in Slovenia," said Lloyd Dakin, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees's regional representative in Slovenia.

Dakin said that the EU directives had already set minimum norms, some of which were lower than international ones, and that UNHCR had already warned this could lead member states to lower their own national legal standards.

"This is exactly what happened in Slovenia, just as it assumes the EU Presidency," he said.

UNHCR said Slovenia -- which took over the rotating EU presidency on January 1 -- already has some of the lowest refugee recognition rates in Europe, with just one asylum seeker recognised as a refugee in 2006, and two in 2007.

The new law could lead to people being deported while their appeal is still being held, and also foresees the widespread use of detention for asylum seekers regardless of whether they have special needs, such as families and children, the UN agency said.

In a statement, Slovenian home affairs ministry spokesman Drago Menegalija rejected UNHCR's criticism, saying the new law had been passed "in order to fully transpose the articles of the common European asylum system to the national legislation".

If Slovenia had one of the lowest refugee recognition rates in Europe, it was because it had fewer asylum applicants than other EU countries, Menegalija said.

"Over the last few years the number of refugee seekers has dropped significantly ... in 2006 there were 65 percent less than in 2005," he said, noting that Slovenia had admitted nine asylum seekers in 2006 and another nine in 2007.

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