STA, 14 July 2021 - Police dealt with 3,343 illegal border crossings in the first half of the year, almost a third fewer than in the same period last year, when there were 5,127. The most frequently processed illegal migrants were from Afghanistan (644) and Pakistan (633).
As noted by the police, there has been a sharp decline in the number of Pakistani and particularly Moroccan nationals, as the number of illegal migrants continues to be affected by the limited mobility due to the containment of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Lately there has been a marked increase in the number of migrants from Bangladesh, as there were 442 in the first six months of 2021 and only 173 in the same period last year. There has also been a slight increase in the number of migrants coming from Kosovo, Turkey and Iran.
The most dramatic decrease was seen in the numbers of migrants from Morocco, as their number dropped from 1,327 in the first half of last year to just 70 this year. The number of migrants arriving from Pakistan has also dropped, from 1,276 in the January-June period last year to 633 in the same period this year.
The highest number of illegal entries at internal EU borders happened at the border with Hungary this year, which shows that problems at this border seem to be increasing. The most exposed border in this respect is still the border with Croatia.
According to the data on illegal crossings of the border by individual police departments, far fewer migrants were processed in the areas covered by the police departments of Ljubljana and Novo Mesto, while increases were recorded in Maribor, Murska Sobota, Celje and Koper.
The total number of persons who were returned to the Slovenian police (77) and of those returned to foreign authorities (1,636) has also decreased slightly in 2021, compared to the same period last year (413 and 3,157, respectively).
The number of illegal migrants who declare their intention to apply for international protection has decreased, except in the case of Pakistani nationals. However, migrants still mostly resume their journey after reaching Slovenia, heading towards their destination countries.
The total number of applications for international protection received by Slovenian authorities in the first six months of 2021 is quite similar to the same period in 2020, standing at 1,270 and 1,467 respectively.
