STA, 22 July 2020 - The police arrested four smugglers of illegal migrants on Tuesday. A man from Ljubljana was caught transporting 28 illegal migrants in a van, as he was pulled over by the police, while a foreign citizen and two accomplices were apprehended near Ljutomer in the northeast for transporting 17 illegal migrants.

The 24-year-old from Ljubljana, driving a van along the Ljubljana ring road refused to pull over when ordered to do so. After he eventually did, a group of people fled the vehicle, the Ljubljana police said in a press release on Wednesday.

The police discovered that the 24-year-old had been assisted by another person, whose identity is yet to be established. They had been smuggling 28 illegal migrants in the van, citizens of Afghanistan and Pakistan; all were apprehended shortly after fleeing the van.

The smuggler is in detention, while procedures involving the migrants are ongoing, the police said.

Across the country, in the village of Veščica near the Croatian border, the Murska Sobota police arrested a van driver transporting 17 illegal migrants.

The driver is a foreign citizen and was arrested alongside two accomplices and the trio will be brought before an investigating judge.

The illegal migrants will be sent back to Croatia after the relevant procedures are completed, the police said.

STA, 21 July 2020 - The Administrative Court has sided with an appeal by a Cameroonian citizen who was deported to Croatia last August and is currently in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Slovenia must allow him to enter the country and file an asylum application, and pay compensation, the court said. The decision will be appealed by the Interior Ministry.

Announcing the decision from last week, the civil initiative InfoKolpa said on Tuesday that the "national police carried out an illegal expulsion of a member of a persecuted English-speaking minority from Cameroon who wanted to apply for asylum in Slovenia."

Cameroon on the map,. Wikipedia

The applicant was held in a Slovenian police station for two days and denied access to asylum, despite making multiple verbal requests. He was subsequently readmitted to Croatia, and from there, he was chain refouled to Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The civil initiative says that the Administrative Court found that Slovenia violated the applicant's right to asylum and the principle of non-refoulement.

"The court ruled that the police had not informed the applicant of his asylum rights, as mandated to do so, in clear breach of domestic and EU law."

The pushback also breached the prohibition of collective expulsion because the applicant was not issued a removal order, nor given translation and legal aid prior to his readmission to Croatia."

InfoKolpa notes that once the ruling becomes final, Slovenia will be obligated to allow the applicant to enter the country and file an application for international protection without delay, as well as provide EUR 5,000 in compensation.

Commenting on the outcome, the applicant said "I believe that the judgement will help those that come after me. It may not have a direct solution for me, but I know that we are creating awareness."

Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry of Internal Affairs said it would examine the decision and appeal it. "The ministry will respect and realise a final and executable decision of the court."

STA, 20 July 2020 - A total of 72 illegal migrants and three persons helping them enter or cross Slovenia without the required documents were caught at the weekend in the area patrolled by the Koper Police Department in the south-west.

A group of illegal migrants was apprehended on Friday near the town of Podgorje together with their guide, a 21-year-old Kosovo citizen, who was taken to an investigating magistrate, who placed him in detention.

On Saturday evening, a 44-year-old citizen of Ukraine was pulled over in the same area transporting 18 Pakistani citizens. He is also in detention.

Early on Sunday morning, the police stopped a van near the town of Koseze in which a 23-year-old Ukrainian citizen was driving 12 Pakistani citizens.

Of the 72 illegal migrants caught in the area patrolled by the Koper Police Department, the majority, or 52, were from Afghanistan, followed by Pakistan.

Seven foreigners who entered Italy from Slovenia were meanwhile returned to Slovenia at the weekend, of whom five were Pakistanis and two Afghans.

STA, 9 July 2020 - After restrictions imposed to contain the Covid-19 pandemic suppressed illegal migration into Slovenia, police have recorded a renewed steep rise in the numbers trying to cross the border illegally.

Police handled 4,993 instances of illegal border crossing between 1 January and 30 June, a decrease of 12.4% compared to the same period last year, but a renewed upward trend was detected recently.

However, presenting more detailed data at Wednesday's session of the parliamentary Home Affairs Committee, Interior Ministry State secretary Franc Kangler said the six-month statistics in fact reflected the situation in three months only, as there was little illegal migration when the border was closed.

Deputy Police Commissioner Tomaž Pečjak said that by Wednesday morning 5,514 attempted to enter the country illegally, up from 5,300 only two days earlier.

This means that more than one percentage point of the "deficit" compared with the same period last year has been offset in a matter of two days, said Pečjak.

The police recorded 1,755 instances of illegal crossing in June, which compares to 1,200 in the same peak month last year, with Pečjak commenting that if the trend continued the 2,000 mark will be crossed in July.

Committee chair Branko Grims (SDS) voiced concern about the "drastic" increase in illegal migrants, projecting that if the trend continued the total for the year would hit or even surpass 20,000.

Given the increase, there is a shortage of 700 police officers, Kangler said, urging the committee to call on the government to retable the proposal to invoke a special article of the defence act that would give soldiers police powers to secure the border.

The committee responded to his appeal by backing the corresponding resolution despite criticism from the opposition.

Grims said that the committee also backed by eight votes in favour and none against the proposal to recommend to the government to withdraw from the global compact for migration.

Arguing that the agreement was but a dead letter, Grims said that by withdrawing from it Slovenia would give a clear signal to illegal migrants that it did not want to be a destination country.

The police report shows that there has been a substantial increase in the number of Moroccans in January-June, with 1,281 attempting to enter the country illegally in the first half of the year.

Along with the citizens of Pakistan (1,264) and Afghanistan (719), Moroccans are involved in more than three out of four instances of illegal crossing, a police report shows.

The number of those expressing the intention to seek asylum decreased by almost 20% year-on-year to 1,766 as of the end of June, which the police said was because of a decline in the number of Algerians, who found an alternative route into Europe.

The most of those who expressed their intention to ask for international protection were Moroccan nationals (761), followed by Afghans (250) and Algerians (226).

Since Morocco would not repatriate its citizens, police have had difficulty returning those whose asylum applications have been rejected.

Another issue pointed out in the report is secondary migration when applicants leave the country during or after the asylum procedure and file a new request in another country if they are apprehended there.

The main point of entry for illegal migrants on the internal border remains Italy.

The number of foreigners found to have entered Slovenia without proper documents or permits across the internal border declined by 22% year-on-year in the first six months, which is attributed to the restrictions related to the pandemic.

Western Balkan countries in particular imposed restrictions on movements and even shut migrant centres, however, estimates are that between 10,000 and 15,000 migrants are stranded in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

STA, 21 June 2020 - Police found 22 foreigners trying to enter Slovenia illegally in two food grade tank lorries with Serbian licence plates on Saturday at Gruškovje border crossing with Croatia.

The citizens of Bangladesh, India, Turkey and Syria were visibly exhausted and there was a high chance that they could suffocate, the Maribor Police Department said.

Police first discovered 13 foreigners in one food grade tank lorry. Then then spotted another vehicle of the same company in the line, checking it immediately after discovering that the group of people in the first lorry were very exhausted, finding the other nine illegal migrants.

According to media reports, the foreigners did not ask for asylum in Slovenia, so they were sent back to Croatia.

Slovenian police did not detain the lorry drivers, but filed a criminal complaint against an unknown perpetrator.

STA, 16 June 2020 - The National Assembly passed a bill on Tuesday amending the penal code by imposing harsher penalties for persons organising illegal crossings of the border and for those helping illegal migrants reside in Slovenia. The amendment, proposed by the upper chamber of parliament, was passed in a 48:35 vote.

The bill was backed by the coalition and by the opposition National Party (SNS), while the other deputy groups opposed it, arguing a more comprehensive approach would be needed to tackle illegal migrations.

The initial proposal by the National Council labelled any illegal border crossing a crime. However, the parliamentary Justice Committee then acknowledged the warnings by the parliament's legal service, state prosecution and the government that this would lead to inconsistencies since the law on foreigners defines illegally crossing the border as an offence, not a crime.

The final version of the bill hence raises the prison sentences for smugglers of migrants from a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment to between three and ten years in prison. Penalties for those helping illegal migrants reside in the country have been also made more severe.

Moreover, persons involved in both crimes who capitalise on their unlawful activities or are part of organised crime will now face three to 15 years in prison, compared to a maximum of eight years in prison as is the case now.

The coalition parties all agreed that the amendment was necessary to boost the deterrence effect and reduce the scope of illegal crossing of the border.

The SNS meanwhile added that the penal code should be further amended by introducing harsher penalties for the relevant accomplices as well.

On the other hand, the rest of the opposition disagreed, with the Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) saying that the changes should be adopted with more deliberation and in cooperation with experts.

The Social Democrats (SD) believe that the punishments are now extremely disproportionate to other crimes or offences, whereas the Left pointed out that the root cause of the migrations should be addressed. The Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB) meanwhile called for a more comprehensive approach.

Fewer illegal border crossing attempts detected so far this year

STA, 16 June 2020 - Nearly 3,300 people tried to enter Slovenia illegally in the first five months of the year, a drop of more than 25% over the same period last year. However, the dynamic started to pick up in the course of the past month, as the coronavirus pandemic started to ease.

The police detected 3,283 attempts at crossing the border illegally between January and May, and 1,198 expressed the intention to request asylum in Slovenia.

Most of the people apprehended were citizens of Pakistan, Morocco and Afghanistan.

The police said that more illegal crossings had been detected in January than in the same month in 2019, but then the number dropped, also because of the pandemic.

In May, the 883 attempts at illegal border crossing were detected, the highest monthly figure in 2020 so far, which is nevertheless significantly below the 1,314 fugure from May 2019.

There is another marked difference in terms of nationality of those trying to enter the country. While most of the persons were Pakistani, there has been a significant drop in the number of Algerian citizens over last year and an increase in Moroccans and Afghans.

The number of those expressing the intention to ask for asylum in Slovenia has dropped as well. Pakistanis express it far more rarely than Moroccans and Algerians, with most continuing their journey to their desired destination after being placed in an asylum facility.

The Slovenian police have returned 2,030 foreigners to other countries, most of them to Croatia - as many as 2,019.

STA, 9 March 2020 - Due to a spike in illegal migration across the Slovenian-Croatian border, the Ormož police station in the north-east of the country will get six new containers to process migrants.

The Maribor Police Department has underscored that the new container units, to become operational on Tuesday, will not be used for migrants' accommodation.

In a press release, the department noted that the number of cases of people illegally crossing the border into Slovenia rose by 73% last year with the cases in the region under its jurisdiction increasing nearly three-fold to 1,449.

The new containers are being supplied in order to organise work more efficiently and to ensure safety at work, the release reads.

"The containers are intended exclusively for handling and police detention of groups of persons who cross the state border illegally in the Maribor Police Department area, and will in no case serve to accommodate migrants."

Similar container units had in the past been placed in the areas under the jurisdiction of the police departments of Novo Mesto, Ljubljana and Koper.

STA, 4 March 2020 - Slovenia is deploying 35 police officers as part of a Frontex rapid border intervention team sent to Greece to help the country deal with an increased influx of migrants after Turkey recently decided to open its border with Greece, said Interior Minister Boštjan Poklukar as he attended an informal EU ministerial on Wednesday.

After today's meeting, called due to the emergency situation at the Greece-Turkey border, Poklukar highlighted that the police officers were already preparing for the task.

He said that the EU's reaction to the developments had been very rapid compared to the 2015 crisis. Greece has been handling the situation well so far, he added.

A total of 530 members of Frontex, the EU border protection agency, have been already deployed to Greece, including two Slovenians. Frontex is expected to mobilise an additional hundred experts as well as necessary vehicles.

The agency has also activated its rapid border intervention team or RABIT, which will be used for the first time ever.

Should the pressure on the Greece-Turkey border continue to build up and Greece be no longer able to cope with the situation, the minister will propose to deploy military forces as well in line with a defence act article which gives additional powers to the armed forces in such circumstances. Soldiers have been already assisting the police on Slovenia's south border under the legislation.

The proposal would need to get the endorsement of two-thirds of MPs if sent to parliament. Poklukar added that he had been in contact with his colleagues in the EU and Western Balkans to stay on top of the situation.

He has told them that the current situation on the external Schengen border in Slovenia is under control due to the police's efforts and highlighted that in the case of no joint EU solutions, the country is adamant to protect its border against a new influx of migrants single-handedly using the police and armed forces.

Poklukar said that the ministers did not discuss any plans for relocating migrants from Greece today, adding that Slovenia had not yet received any formal proposal to accept unaccompanied refugee minors from the Greek islands either.

He also pointed out that Slovenia was hesitant about a migration relocation scheme for those rescued in the central Mediterranean, agreed by four EU countries last year, since the country had been already dealing with the Western Balkans migration route, masses of asylum seekers and limited capacities.

STA, 4 March 2020 - Slovenian police officers discovered at the Dobova border crossing on Tuesday 30 citizens of Iraq, Syria, Iran and Afghanistan hiding in sealed wagons of a train carrying clay, as they attempted to enter Slovenia.

The train with 20 wagons loaded with clay was coming to Slovenia from Serbia, the Novo Mesto Police Department said on Wednesday.

The foreigners were literally buried in clay as they tried to avoid being detected by border police, which could have been fatal.

The police said the conditions in the sealed wagons were life-threatening, mostly due to the lack of oxygen. What is more the clay on the surface had hardened, creating a dangerous crust.

Spokesperson Alenka Drenik said that the foreigners had been completely covered by clay, and that it was not fully clear how they were able to breathe at all.

She added that foreigners who were trying to enter Slovenia illegally were often found on trains, including on trains transporting clay, but that they were always located on the top of the cargo.

What shocked the police officers and firefighters who participated in the rescue effort the most is that there were 12 children aged between five and fourteen, as well as a woman in a late stage of pregnancy, among the foreigners.

Three persons were provided with medical care in the Brežice hospital after the effort, which also included search and rescue dogs.

Peter Herakovič, the commander of the local fire brigade, told the STA that "small wooden houses" had been put into the wagons, enabling the stowaways get air.

Hardened clay was put on top of these houses, and entrances were blocked by large lumps of clay. "These were trenches of some sort."

According to him, the people inside the wagons were terrified and would not have stayed alive for much longer, perhaps a few hours, had they not been rescued. "Those who were being rescued the last were in a very bad shape."

Herakovič praised the rescue dog team, saying that not even half of the migrants would be saved without them.

According to Drenik, their destination was probably Italy, where the cargo train was destined.

Since they did not ask for asylum, all of them, including the three who had been taken to hospital, have already been handed over to Croatian police officers who perform joint border control at Dobova with Slovenian colleagues.

STA, 1 March 2020 - Slovenian authorities say they are prepared for a possible increase in migrations after Turkey decided to open its borders with Greece claiming it can no longer cope with a new migrant wave from Syria.

"We are ready for a possible increase in illegal crossings of the national border. We have a variety of activities and measures available that we will adjust to the situation on the ground," the Interior Ministry said Saturday evening.

The ministry said it was monitoring the situation in the region and exchanging information with countries in the region on an ongoing basis, stressing that police were in control of the situation.

Police said they were exchanging information with other countries and making adjustments as necessary.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has raised fears of a renewed surge in migrations along the Balkan route after announcing Turkey was opening its borders towards Europe.

Reports by global media suggest thousands of migrants have already crossed into the EU and are en route north.