A man physically attacked a Philippine worker in Ljubljana, choking and assaulting him at a shop near the city’s main railway station, in an incident that police say they are still investigating. According to a victim account relayed by a labour advisory group and a Philippine workers’ association, the attack happened around the end of the previous week, in the middle of the day. The assailant allegedly told the worker to return to his home country or he would be killed, and later renewed the attack at a nearby construction site. The worker immediately informed his employer, who said he would call the police. With police not arriving for more than half an hour, the worker called again himself. He then followed the suspect in an effort to prevent him from fleeing before police arrived. On a nearby construction site, the suspect allegedly tried to attack the worker again. Construction workers intervened and physically restrained him until police arrived. Ljubljana police say two officers were dispatched to the scene and initially began taking an oral criminal complaint, with a record to be finalized at the police station. Police also say the suspect was no longer at the scene when the officers returned, and that the victim did not report that the suspect threatened him with death or choked him during the initial conversation. The case reached the police station, where the victim filed a complaint. After the incident, he sought medical help at University Medical Centre Ljubljana. A labour advisory group said the victim and other Philippine workers have faced verbal harassment but, until now, had not experienced fear of physical attacks. The group also criticized the officers’ handling, alleging the worker was not treated seriously and that the police response was influenced by his being a foreigner. Police in Ljubljana said they did not find an increased number of violent reports where victims were foreign nationals and where acts were driven by racial hostility. They added that they respond to every report and check the circumstances, while continuing a preliminary investigation for causing minor bodily injury and working to identify the suspect.