STA, 8 September 2020 - Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese has announced that Italy will not close small border crossings on the Italian-Slovenian border due to increased migration, but will bolster the presence of the military and police in the border area. She has also announced that mixed border patrols will be reintroduced.

Joint Slovenian-Italian border police patrols were discontinued when the Covid-19 situation started to escalate.

But Lamorgese said in Trieste on Tuesday that the joint activities would be renewed "already this evening", lauding cooperation with the Slovenian police, reported Primorski Dnevnik, the Trieste-based newspaper of the Slovenian minority in Italy.

The Friuli-Venezia Giulia region will see the arrival of additional soldiers "to monitor the region more efficiently", she said during her visit to Trieste, where she mostly discussed illegal migrations with regional authorities, according to the Italian press agency Ansa.

Additional soldiers will be primarily deployed to small border crossings as well as to roads and expressways to upset the apple cart for migrant smugglers.

Lamorgese said that the authorities needed to be one step ahead of the smugglers, who are inventive in coming up with new routes.

More than 3,000 illegal migrants have taken the Western Balkan route to arrive in Italy this year, which compares to 2,100 migrants crossing the Slovenian-Italian border illegally in the same period last year. Some 850 were handed over to the Slovenian authorities, said Lamorgese.

Friuli-Venezia Giulia President Massimiliano Fedriga is meanwhile disappointed that small border crossings remain open, reported Ansa. But he said the minister had told him she would see no alternative to closing them if sending additional manpower did not prove efficient.

Lamorgese hopes the move will bring positive results though. A total of 21 small border crossings will see reinforced border control already tonight.

STA, 2 September 2020 - Police apprehended a group of 60 people who had illegally entered the country near the town of Semič in the south-east on Tuesday. The migrants come from Pakistan and Afghanistan.

They were captured after a large number of persons were spotted in Srednja Vas at around 4pm, running towards Komarna Vas, the Novo Mesto police department said on Wednesday.

The illegal migrants were apprehended by police officers from Črnomelj, Dolenjske Toplice and the specialised unit for border control of the General Police Administration. A special unit of the Novo Mesto police department also took part in the operation.

The foreigners are still being processed by police.

Police chase vehicle with 16 migrants from Ilirska Bistrica to Italy

STA, 3 September 2020 - Slovenian police chased last evening a vehicle with Italian licence plates carrying 16 Eritrean citizens from the area of Ilriska Bistrica, a town in the south some 10km from Croatia, all the way to Italy, as the Spanish driver refused to pull over.

The Koper Police Department said on Thursday that several unsuccessful attempts had been made to stop it.

The vehicle then ran over a stinger spike system in the coastal town of Škofije, but the 21-year driver continued the journey despite flat tyres.

He finally stopped near the Italian town of Muggia over half an hour after the vehicle was first spotted at 9.30pm in a village near Ilirska Bistrica.

The driver fled, but was caught some 300 metres from the vehicle, while the group of illegal migrants and the driver were taken over by Italian police.

Earlier on Wednesday, a car with German licence plates driven by a 28-year-old Syrian citizen living legally in Germany was stopped in another village near Ilirska Bistrica, carrying five Eritreans.

Further east, near the town of Črnomelj, locals notified last evening the police of a van which carried 24 illegal migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. While they tried but failed to escape, the driver managed to flee and has not yet been found.

STA, 26 August 2020 - The defence and interior ministries as well as the Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF) and the police have agreed to boost cooperation in guarding the state border, said the Defence Ministry on Wednesday, announcing additional measures, including a reform of the rules governing the military's deployment on the border.

The meeting took place on Tuesday and featured Defence Minister Matej Tonin, Interior Minister Aleš Hojs, Chief of the General Staff, Brigadier General Robert Glavaš, and acting Police Commissioner Andrej Jurič.

The Defence Ministry said it will tweak the rules and prepare four levels of deployment in line with Article 37 of the defence act, which enables SAF members to help the police patrol the border without having any police powers.

The green level will signal the deployment of 150 soldiers along the border, the yellow level 400, the orange level 800 and the red level will mean 2,000 soldiers are to be deployed, reads the ministry's press release.

The SAF will also start conducting the majority of their military exercises at areas close to the border in coming weeks to strengthen its presence there and "help citizens who are facing negative consequences of migrations", said Tonin.

STA, 25 August 2020 - A migrants’ rights advocacy group staged a rally in front of the Centre for Aliens in Postojna (Center za tujce) on Tuesday, claiming that conditions at the centre were reminiscent of a concentration camp and that the rights of foreigners kept there were being violated. The police has rejected the accusations.

The group, called Taskforce for Asylum, spoke on behalf of what were around 50 protestors, saying that grave human rights violations were occurring at the centre.

"You can find yourself here if a you are a foreigner and did not bring your residence documents in order in time, and you can stay locked up by up to a year, often without any contact to the outside world or the chance of an appeal," the group said.

In prison people at least know why they are locked up, can get a lawyer and know when they will be released, while in Postojna they are left at the mercy of a single inspector. Suicide attempts are an everyday affair, the Taskforce for Asylum said.

The group claims that "this disgraceful camp" was further expanded in recent months, with the state starting to send asylum seekers there and returning them to Croatian police from there.

It said one facility was a large warehouse with iron bars that now houses asylum seekers, who are left without basic necessities and kept waiting for a decision for weeks and months.

The foreigners handled this way are resisting and are also trying to get the attention of the public with hunger strikes, the Taskforce for Asylum said.

The protesters demanded today that "this concentration camp" be closed immediately and that the refoulement of migrants to Croatia stop.

The police rejected all the accusations, saying all procedures were conducted in line with national and European legislation and international conventions.

According to the police, it is not true that foreigners were sent to the centre without formal decisions. If there are reservations for sending back an individual, this is taken into consideration and the procedure is halted.

Legal protection is provided for all cases, there is also access to a doctor and psychosocial support, the police told the STA.

It also rejected claims of a hunger strike being under way. The foreigners expressed their discontent in different ways, including by occasionally declining food. Thus there was a situation a few days ago where one of the departments rejected dinner in protest over movement restrictions, the police added.

While also rejecting claims food was being supplied through window bars, the police dismissed accusations regarding overcrowded conditions.

There are presently 93 foreigners at the centre, which has capacity for 180. 68 of those currently there are subject to international protection procedures, while 25 are in the process of being returned.

STA, 20 August 2020 - In a landmark ruling for the rights of migrants entering Slovenia, the Supreme Court has reportedly overturned an Administrative Court ruling that allowed for no return of migrants to Croatia without a formal decision. The Supreme Court argues this is allowed under an agreement on fast-track returns signed by Slovenia and Croatia in 2006.

Deciding in a case of a Moroccan migrant, the Administrative Court had ruled fast-track returns based on an inter-state agreement but without an issued decision and thus a chance for appeal violated European and Slovenian legislation and constitutionally secured rights, Dnevnik reported on Thursday.

The Supreme Court, ruling in favour of an appeal filed by the Interior Ministry, disagreed, the paper said, adding that what is the first ruling pertaining to the 2006 Slovenia-Croatia agreement has been welcomed by the ministry and police.

They told Dnevnik the Supreme Court had ruled the agreement did not breach EU law, nor had it established human rights violations.

The paper adds that legal rules envisage that such a decision be issued by Croatia, but Croatia fails to do so, instead pushing back the migrants to Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The Taskforce for Asylum, an activist group, responded by saying that Slovenian police obviously did not need to check how Croatian police acted once the migrants were returned and by announcing a challenge at the Constitutional Court

The Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman told Dnevnik that the Supreme Court ruling did not yet establish a "case law", pointing out that the Administrative Court has also ruled that a migrant from Cameroon - who had been subjected to a similar expulsion and ended up in Bosnia - be returned to Slovenia, be allowed to seek asylum and receive damages.

Blaž Kovač of Amnesty International Slovenije meanwhile expressed his conviction that Slovenia's involvement in chain refoulement made it co-responsible for the Croatian police's treatment of refugees and for the inhumane accommodation conditions they are subjected to in Bosnia.

STA, 19 August 2020 - Police last night caught 257 foreign citizens who entered Slovenia illegally and seven people smugglers, as part of enhanced border control in the areas policed by the Ljubljana and Novo Mesto police departments, in the south and south-east of the country.

Police said on Wednesday the purpose of enhanced control was to prevent and detect illegal crossings of the border in areas of the country most at risk of illegal migrations.

Apart from police officers from the two police departments, a number of officers from various specialised units took part, while police dogs and drones were also deployed.

The campaign targeted the areas near the border with Croatia, from which the majority of illegal migrants come, and with Italy, where many continue their journey.

Several large groups of migrants were caught, including 85 in Črnomelj area in the south-east.

The group, which entered Slovenia from Croatia on foot, featured 62 citizens of Afghanistan and 22 Pakistani citizens.

Another group of 48 citizens of Bangladesh was found in the same area, having entered the country in a van driven by a Ukrainian citizen.

Around the town of Cerknica, some 35 km south of Ljubljana, 42 illegal migrants were caught in a van driven by two Slovenian citizens.

The majority of the group (33) were citizens of Pakistan, five came from Afghanistan.

Nine Afghan nationals entering Slovenia on foot were apprehended in Metlika area, near Črnomelj.

With the help of two drivers, an Afghan and a Cuban, they were to continue their journey towards Italy in a car with Italian licence plates.

In nearby Kočevje, another three Afghans, who were transported by an Ukrainian in a car, were caught.

All seven smugglers have been detained.

Elsewhere in the country 35 more illegal aliens were apprehended last night.

The police released statistics for 1 January to 18 August showing 8,762 illegal crossings of the border were detected, down from 8,802 in the same period last year.

It said, however, that a rising trend in illegal migrations had been noticed over the past two months.

STA, 7 August 2020 - Police operating in the south-east of the country tracked down and apprehended at 15 separate locations on Thursday 106 foreign citizens who had illegally crossed the border. Police data show a surge in the number of migrants in July and August after a calmer phase ascribed to the coronacrisis.

According to a press release from the Novo Mesto Police Administration, police also apprehended two Ukrainian citizens who planned to bring six Pakistani citizens inland.

The police thanked the population on the border for notifying it of suspicions individuals and vehicles and thus helping protect the border.

Police data show an upswing in migration numbers in July and the start of August. Police dealt with 7,409 cases of illegal border crossing in the first six months of the year, which compares to 7,504 in the same period in 2019.

While a spike is seen every summer, the spring figures, at around 500 a month, were lower this year. The July figure of 2,319 is meanwhile comparable to last year's.

Standing out among the migrants this year have been Moroccan and Pakistani citizens, accounting for half of all migrants. A notable decline was recorded for Algerian citizens.

STA, 4 August 2020 - Due to an increase in illegal migrations from Slovenia to Italy, the government in Rome has announced it will send an additional contingent of soldiers to the Friuli Venezia Giulia region to help monitor the border with Slovenia, Tatjana Rojc, the ethnic Slovenian senator in Rome, said on Tuesday.

Rojc met today with Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese, who presented the government's plans. The Italian government is closely watching the developments and wants to strengthen cooperation with Slovenia in the fight against smugglers, Lamorgese was quoted as saying by the Austrian Press Agency (APA).

Rojc told the APA that the stricter controls in Trieste and Gorizia are leading an increasing number of migrants and Ukrainian smugglers to try to enter via the smaller border crossing in the Udine area. The smugglers are transporting the migrants to Italy with small buses, camper vans and lorries, the senator added.

The plans of the Italian government seem to come in response to a letter sent to it last week by the regional authorities in Friuli Venezia Giulia, which called for fast and targeted action.

STA, 29 July 2020 - Two young Belarusians pulled over by the police near Semič close to the border with Croatia on Tuesday evening were found to be carrying a total of ten Moroccans in two vehicles with Polish license plates in what is but the latest in a series of similar incidents reported by the police.

A press release from the Novo Mesto Police Department said the Moroccans had entered Slovenia illegally.

The two Belarusians, both aged 21, will be brought before an investigating judge, while proceedings involving the migrants are still ongoing.

Slovenian police handled 4,993 attempts at crossing the border illegally from January to the end of June, a decrease of 12.4% compared with the same period last year, a fall blamed on the pandemic loockdown and border restrictions.

The cases were up in May to 903 and surged to 1,689 in June, which compares to 1,200 in the same peak month last year.

More than three out of four illegal migrants handled by the police in the first half of the year were citizens of Morocco, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

A total of 1,766 migrants expressed an intention to seek asylum in Slovenia, while Slovenian police returned 3,118 foreigners to foreign law enforcement authorities, 3,100 of them to Croatia's.

STA, 23 July 2020 - Slovenia and Austria have agreed to try out joint surveillance of the shared border using technology such as cameras and drones, as Interior Minister Aleš Hojs held talks with his Austrian counterpart Karl Nehammer at a conference on migrations along the Balkan route.

The trial will "examine the possibility of effective cooperation in joint border surveillance and the transfer of these practices to the Slovenian-Croatian border, which is more prone to migration pressure," reads a press release from the Interior Ministry.

The meeting came at a conference on migrations featuring the home ministers of 18 countries at which it was decided to set up a platform to fight illegal migration on the Balkan route.

The platform, headquartered in Vienna, will facilitate coordination in four segments: border surveillance, return of migrants who are not eligible for asylum, the fight against smugglers of migrants, and the creation of faster and more efficient asylum procedures.

Hojs was quoted as having expressed concern about the situation regarding migrations, which he said was similar than in 2015. In view of abuses of asylum procedure, he urged the ministers to "examine their asylum systems and take advantage of methods to prevent abuse".

"In the past Slovenia adopted several measures that we are now stepping up. Changes to penal law are ready, and we are changing the foreigners act and the international protection act to make procedures more efficient," he said.

Hojs also stressed that protection of external borders was crucial in managing migrations through Western Balkans.

"The commitment that we are going to make in the joint statement - that countries will to a greater extent support the member states on the EU's external border - is therefore all the more important. Slovenia is definitely willing to do this to an even greater extent than so far," the minister was quoted as saying.

Hojs held several bilateral meetings on the margins of the conference, including with German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer and the head of the European Asylum Support Office, Nina Gregori.