STA , 21 July 2019 - The majority of migrants who were apprehended in a large group in Ilirska Bistrica area on Friday (as reported here) have been handed over to Croatian authorities, the Koper police department told the press on Sunday.
Police spokesman Tomaž Čehovin said that 108 out of 123 apprehended migrants, mostly from Afghanistan, had been handed over to Croatia, while 15, mostly minors, had requested international protection.
According to Čehovin, there was no violence in the course of the police procedure, nor were any weapons or other dangerous items found. The migrants were given food and essentials and no one got hurt.
Some 40 police officers were part of Friday's operation, including reinforcements from other police departments.
Čehovin noted that cooperation with the Croatian police was good and pointed out that the Slovenian Armed Forces' assistance had come in handy.
He was also understanding of the locals' feelings of unease regarding the migrant situation since the Ilirska Bistrica area is quite big and the response time is not always as good as the people would wish.
Ilirska Bistrica police are getting assistance from the army and the Koper police due to a bigger inflow of refugees recently, said Čehovin.
On Friday several camps clustered in the woods near the village of Šembije were discovered, an unusual situation since in the past most migrants would try to cross the border in smaller groups.
