STA, 7 February 2020 - The Slovenian police recorded a total of 16,099 illegal crossings of the border last year, almost 74% more than in 2018, with the highest number of migrants coming from Pakistan, Algeria and Afghanistan.
Citizens of Pakistan were involved in a total of 4,101 illegal crossings, followed by citizens of Algeria (1,892) and Afghanistan (1,733), show data from the police, the Ministry of the Interior and the Government Office for the Support and Integration of Migrants.
August was the busiest month for police officers in this respect, as 2,392 illegal crossings of the border were recorded that month, followed by October (2,268) and September (1,987).
The number of applications for international protection was also up last year to 3,821, which is 33% more than in 2018.
Only 85 persons were granted international protection, down from 102 in 2018, while procedures were suspended in 3,273 cases. The vast majority of suspensions are the result of applicants leaving Slovenia of their own accord.
The largest number of foreigners returned to Slovenia by foreign authorities came from Italy (255), while Slovenia returned the biggest number of foreigners to Croatia (11,026 or almost three times more than in 2018).
As of 6 February, a total of 298 applicants for international protection reside in Slovenia, almost half of them in the asylum centre in south-western Ljubljana.
The number of persons who have been granted international protection stands at 725, with three-quarters of these persons accommodated in private homes.
