What are the necessary conditions that can allow new immigrants to be who they are, and still have unhindered access to all spheres of private and public life in their new homeland? Nine out of ten immigrants in Slovenia have come from other parts of former Yugoslavia; more than one third of 15-year-olds in Ljubljana are children of either non-Slovenian or mixed couples. And yet, in the 2002 census, only 6.2 per cent of Slovenia's population declared their ethnic or regional affiliation relating to other parts of former Yugoslavia. Why? This article examines the disadvantages of being a Serbian, a Muslim, or a Bosnian in Slovenia. It exposes the immigrants' experience of legal mistreatment; the unequal status of their languages; general suspicion of their religion, culture, values and habits; and the stigma of their socio-economic status-all of which are reflected in their children's self-identification.