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.

STA, 3 January 2020 - One year into her term, Slovenian Police Commissioner Tatjana Bobnar is happy to report that crime clearance rate has increased to over 50%. However, cybercrime is a problem, in particular because the police force lacks the powers to investigate it.

The clearance rate increased from 47% in 2018 to 50.2% in 2019, which Bobnar says is the success of the system, not just individuals. Speaking to the STA in an interview, the commissioner compared the police force to a postage stamp: "It sticks onto the envelope until it reaches its destination."

Bobnar, who a year ago became Slovenia's first woman police force chief, says that the police now handle many more cases of corruption, and that cracking down on corruption crimes is a priority.

Cybercrime in Slovenia

Cybercrime is a problem, in particular on the dark web "where criminals use electronic currencies, leaving behind dispersed digital traces, which we cannot secure. Applying classic investigation tools, we are not a couple of metres behind, but far behind [the criminals]," says Bobnar.

Last year the police acquired equipment to examine huge amounts of data on seized electronic devices, and the force has also established a computer forensic investigation centre and special cybercrime divisions at police departments. "But we are lagging behind in terms of powers, and that is the problem."

The Slovenian police are able to monitor telephone communications, but not encrypted communication. The Constitutional Court has banned them from using IMSI catchers, devices that mimic mobile phone towers to intercept mobile traffic, as well as the system for automatic license plate recognition.

"Slovenia is one of few EU countries that doesn't have the legal basis in place for that. We absolutely need that, also to provide road traffic safety. In the short time that we had that power, we detected many offenders who drove faulty vehicles," the commissioner notes.

The police are not demanding to be allowed to exercise general surveillance, "it's not about having the freedom of a fox in a hen house", but "security in the broadest context is a key asset that we mustn't squander", the commissioner warns.

"Luckily, we haven't witnessed a lorry ploughing into a mass of people, we don't have child kidnappings ... We still have time to ponder year in year out how much safety we want at the expense of privacy. It's not one or the other, it's both. You don't realise safety is a human right until it's gone."

The police force will push for amendments to the police tasks and powers act again this year, taking into account the Constitutional Court's guidance in annulling the respective provisions.

However, Bobnar wondered "whether it may be in someone's interest in this country that police should not be effective enough in cracking down on a portion of crime".

In fighting cybercrime, which as a rule spans across borders, legislation that is adjusted at the EU level is of exceptional importance, says Bobnar, adding that Slovenian police can benefit from exchange of data with other police forces as well as Europol and Interpol.

The police have been detecting an increase in reported cases of internet child sex abuse and pornographic material dissemination. The number of cases reported by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children rose from 2,000 in 2018 to 3,000 in 2019.

"We are raising awareness among people that sharing such a video is a renewed sex abuse against the child involved," says the commissioner.

The police have also been busy cracking down on illicit drugs trade, with some of major heroin and cannabis drug busts made last year. Slovenia remains a transit country for illicit drugs, and new synthetic drugs are appearing on almost a weekly basis.

Staffing issues remain a problem

The force has been grappling with staff shortages with round 900 staff leaving over the past ten years. However, they have been applying active staffing policies over the past four years to attract as many new police candidates as possible.

"We want to boost traffic police, special police unit, the security and protection centre, as well as the ranks of border patrol units and other units," says Bobnar, adding that another goal is to rejuvenate the force, whose average age at the moment is 42.

Talks have been under way for three years to let army members beyond the age of 45 continue their careers in the police force. "Everyone who meets the legislative requirements is welcome. However, some laws will need to be amended so the soldiers can bring promotions and pay brackets with them from the army."

Amending the police career system remains a challenge for this year, while Bobnar is happy that the government has secured an extra EUR 15 million per year for bonuses for police officers managing migration.

Difficult work on the border

That is a demanding task with Bobnar saying that the police manage migration as a security problem and as a humanitarian issue. However, she also noted the gap between the expectations from one part of the public who would like to open borders wide to everyone, and those who would want to shut them tight.

None is possible. Even the Hungarian border is not impenetrable, with Slovenian police assessing that the migration flow has changed direction from Slovenia's southern border toward Hungary, says the commissioner.

Last year, the Slovenian police handled almost 16,000 foreigners who entered the country illegally, returning roughly 11,000 to law enforcement authorities in neighbouring countries, most to Croatia.

"The police are investing a lot of effort an energy in preventing illegal migration so I'd like to deny any allegation of our southern border being porous and of the state being ineffective in the field," says Bobnar, noting purchases of surveillance drones and more fencing to fight the problem.

The commissioner also commended cooperation with the security authorities in the neighbouring countries, the Slovenian Armed Forces and the national intelligence and security agency SOVA, including in the efforts to detect potential former Islamic fighters, smugglers and those intending to commit other crimes.

The police last year handled 455 smugglers of migrants in 317 such cases. "It's the activity of organised criminal rings who profit at the expense of vulnerable people who seek a better life in the west."

The smugglers are "mostly citizens of third-countries, Bosnia, Serbia, North Macedonia, Kosovo, but there are also Italian, Slovenian and Croatian nationals. They include asylum seekers who have abused international protection."

Growing migration is met with spreading hate speech. In cooperation with the Web Eye the police have detected a slight increase in reported hate speech cases in 2019. "In particular on forums, social networks where there's a lack of regulations and which afford anonymity," says Bobnar.

However, she does not think repression alone is the answer. "All other stakeholders, including the primary family, should do their job first. Society must say no to intolerance loud and clear (...) Equal treatment and equal opportunity should be society's key guiding principle, or else we'll never make progress."

STA, 20 December 2019 - Police processed more than 15,200 illegal crossings of the border by the end of November this year, as much as some 70% increase compared to the same period in 2018. A total of 3,640 migrants have asked for international protection.

Citizens from Pakistan, Algeria and Afghanistan were processed by police officers most often.

This year's situation shows a steeper increase year-on-year. August saw the greatest surge of illegal crossings of the border per month since the 2016 mass migrations, with the situation getting more manageable in autumn when the temperatures started dropping.

The police has recorded an increase in the number of asylums requests as well - in 2018, 2,875 asked for international protection, while in the first eleven months of 2019, 3,640 did the same. Most of those procedures have been completed, with 67 persons granted asylum.

Considerably more illegal migrants were handed over to the Croatian authorities this year as well - some 10,640 compared to 4,590 in 2018. Most of them were from Pakistan.

STA, 5 December 2019 - The opposition Democrats (aka Slovenian Democratic Party - Slovenska demokratska stranka, SDS) issued a demand Thursday that the government widen deployment of the army on the border under provisions of the defence act that may be triggered in the event of mass migrations.

Police figures show 11,786 cases of illegal border crossing in January-September, up over 70 from a year ago, which the SDS says demands that the government take measures to "provide for the security of the residents of Slovenia".

The SDS motion will be debated at a joint session of the parliamentary defence and home policy committees on 12 December.

The army received limited police powers under amendments to the defence act passed in October 2015, at the peak of the migration crisis when thousands of migrants crossed into Slovenia each day.

The provisions may be activated for a period of up to three months, a decision which requires an absolute majority in parliament to be initiated.

Soldiers are already assisting the police in patrolling the border and the SDS motion is unlikely to gain traction considering the government's official position that the police are doing a good job protecting the border.

STA, 4 December 2019 - The migration crisis, security issues, the European integration prospects of the Western Balkans and nuclear waste management issues were discussed as President Borut Pahor hosted the presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina as it started a two-day official visit to Slovenia on Wednesday.

After the official talks, a press conference in Ljubljana was held by Pahor and Presidency Chairman Željko Komšić, with the former noting that all three members of the presidency had visited for a second time, which Slovenia appreciated.

Pahor said that Slovenia was inclined with favour to Bosnia-Herzegovina and respected its results despite the numerous challenges it faced, adding that Slovenia had always been inclined to EU enlargement to the Western Balkans.

"As the enlargement process could lose its momentum, this region must respond wisely," he said, endorsing the regional trade cooperation initiative, sometimes called a "mini Schengen", which he sees as a tool for the region to become attractive once more to the EU, to "become a magnet".

Pahor did not forget to mention that trade between Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina is constantly rising, reaching EUR 1.4 billion last year, and that more than 100 Slovenian companies in the country employ 15,000 people.

"This means that Slovenia enjoys trust in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and we want these relations to further improve."

Komšić said that he was glad that his country had a friend in Slovenia which understood what was going on in the country, adding that he was happy that Pahor supported the "mini Schengen" initiative as every cooperation was welcome.

He said that it had been stressed that the initiative was not a substitute or alternative to the EU accession of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the entire region, but a "recommendation to the European Commission" that the region was able to cooperate.

Komšić, who represents the Croatian ethnicity in the three-member presidency, said that there were some worrying topics though, including migrations, with thousands of west-bound migrants being stuck there.

He said that a joint effort should be made towards EU institutions to solve the problem at the source, adding that the current efforts were only a reaction. "The problem should be solved at the entry to Europe, in accordance with international conventions."

The issue was also discussed by Milorad Dodik, the Serb representative on the presidency, who noted at the press conference that the borders of the EU were being shut down and that migrants could remain stuck in Bosnia-Herzegovina and "cause problems".

"A difficult humanitarian crisis may erupt," said the former PM of Republika Srpska, "adding that "the EU is trying to donate money and steer policies, but we don't need money for migrants and we don't need migrants either".

A related issued was raised, as reporters asked the presidency about the plan to bring back 24 Bosnian citizens related to the former ISIS fighters in Syria, with Komšić noting that these were women and children returning to their families.

He said that "checks have been made" and that the procedure had been carried out in cooperation with partner security agencies so the "things are being kept under complete control".

Pahor said that he was happy with the agreement that security agencies exchange all information in order to prevent incidents which could trigger fear among citizens.

As Slovenia and Croatia are discussing where to deposit nuclear waste from the jointly-owned NEK power station in Krško, the presidency raised some issues with Croatia's plan to build its rad-waste repository near the border with Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Dodik said that "depositing nuclear waste at this location is unacceptable for us and we will continue with activities to this cause", adding that Croatia needed to understand the position of Bosnia regarding waste from Krško.

Presidency member Šefik Džaferović also addressed the press, saying that the most important question was what stance the new European Commission would take following North Macedonia and Albania failing to make progress in EU accession.

Džaferović said that the rejection should be emphasised as a serious issue. "This decision has surprised us but it hasn't discouraged us, as we want our European prospects to gain significant momentum.

"We need friends who will help us in this process, including within the EU, and Slovenia is our great friend," added the Bosniak representative in the Bosnia-Herzegovina presidency.

The presidency was also hosted by parliamentary Speaker Dejan Židan, with the main topic being the EU accession prospects of the Western Balkans, with the trio saying that their country's integration in the EU was the only option.

Komšić, Dodik and Džaferović also expressed the hope that the good cooperation at the parliamentary level would continue with the new term of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia-Herzegovina and that a Slovenian-Bosnian friendship group would be established soon.

STA, 1 December 2019 - The Slovenian police recorded 14,066 illegal crossings of the border in the first ten months of the year, which is almost 72% more than in the same period of 2018. The largest groups of migrants came from Pakistan, Algeria and Afghanistan.

August was the month with the highest number of illegal crossings of the border since the 2016 mass migrations, whereupon the number of monthly crossings started dropping as the weather started to deteriorate.

The number of people who expressed the wish to stay in Slovenia was also up. Some 4,441 expressed the intention to seek international protection on contact with the police, up from 3,952 in the year before.

But the statistics show most people treat Slovenia as a transit country, with many who submit formal requests leaving the country before their cases are heard.

Of the over 4,400 who expressed their intention to seek asylum, only 3,350 eventually did so and the vast majority of cases were suspended because people had left, presumably to other EU countries.

The actual number of asylum seekers staying in Slovenia is thus low relative to the overall number of migrants, show figures by the Government Office for the Support and Integration of Migrants.

On 28 November there were 335 persons in asylum centres awaiting the processing of their requests for international protection and 697 residing in Slovenia who have already been granted international protection

All figures below are from official police and Interior Ministry data.

Illegal crossings in January-October, by citizenship

               2018         2019
--------------------------------
Pakistan      2,531        3,777
Algeria         832        1,752
Afghanistan     956        1,519
Morocco         343        1,112
Bangladesh      172        1,090
Syria           620          754
Iraq            466          694
Turkey          221          618
Iran            684          604
Croatia         274          301
Other         1,087        1,845
--------------------------------
TOTAL          8186       14,066

Illegal crossings and requests for asylum in 2018,
first ten months of 2019

Month             Crossings      Asylum requests
               2018    2019        2018     2019
-------------------------------------------------
January         248     319         172      205
February        210     326         223      216
March           210   1,075         129      356
April           644   1,389         274      334
May           1,286   1,306         365      404
June          1,043   1,266         267      287
July          1,119   1,793         287      387
August        1,152   2,379         381      388
September       999   1,988         256      356
October       1,275   2,225         201      417
November        722                 170
December        358                 150
-------------------------------------------------
Total Jan-Oct 8,186  14,066

Persons returned to Slovenian police and persons returned
to foreign authorities by Slovenian police, Jan-Oct

              Returned to          Returned to
            Slovenian police   foreign authorities
Country        2018    2019        2018     2019
------------------------------------------------
Italy           343     235          59       68
Austria          29      77          16       13
Croatia           8      25       3,906    9,653
Hungary          18       5           5        2
Airport         150     211          30       25
------------------------------------------------
Total           548     553       4,016    9,761

Number of requests for asylum and their status in 2018,
first ten months of 2019

Status
                                   2018     2019
------------------------------------------------
Requests                          2,875    3,350
Requests for repeat procedure        40       25
Repeat procedure                     27       47
Solved cases                      2,886    3,234
Asylum granted                      102       62
Asylum denied                       135      102
Procedure suspended               2,372    2,792
Dismissed requests                  277      278
Permanent move                       40        0
Relocation                           21        0

STA, 28 November - Two Syrian illegal migrants died last night as a car carrying eight Syrians crashed into the motorway fence on the Ljubljana-Koper motorway near the town of Vrhnika.

The accident happened on Thursday at around 1:30am as the car started to skid while overtaking a lorry and returning onto the main lane.

Three Syrian citizens fell out of the boot, of whom two died and the third is still being treated, Primož Kadunc of the Ljubljana Police Department told the press today.

He said a fourth person had sustained only light injuries, while all the other migrants had asked for international protection in Slovenia.

There was another person aged under 18 in the car, but was not injured.

Police apprehended the 42-year-old Bosnian driver and will press charges against him for enabling the Syrians to illegally enter Slovenia and causing a car accident.

Kadunc also said it was suspected the migrants could have tuberculosis, but the police said later in the day all the persons had been checked for contagious diseases, but were cleared of the suspicion.

The Koper-bound motorway was closed for around five hours after the accident.

STA, 8 November 2019 - A 20-year-old Syrian died on Thursday in front of the police station in Ilirska Bistrica due to hypothermia and exhaustion despite medical assistance and resuscitation attempts.

He was brought to the police station by a Greek woman and two brothers who live as refugees in Germany.

According to the Koper Police Department, the 20-year-old called his brothers on the phone telling them he was stranded somewhere in the woods near Ilirska Bistrica and was unable to continue his journey.

He asked them to come find him, sending them his coordinates. Along with the Greek, who was the driver, the brothers found the 20-year-old, taking him to the nearby police station and calling for help.

A firefighter was the first to respond, calling a doctor who tried resuscitating the 20-year-old. The autopsy has shown that he has died of hypothermia and exhaustion.

STA, 4 November 2019 - The Slovenian and Italian police forces will further enhance cooperation in fighting illegal migrations, as the number of joint police patrols, launched on 1 July, will be doubled from four to eight, the General Police Department told the STA on Monday.

In July a three-month trial period started in which the two countries' mixed police units patrolled the border to curb illegal migrations. The cooperation continued into October.

Since such cooperation was assessed as effective in migration management, the leaderships of border police from both countries agreed to prolong and enhance it.

It was agreed in Trieste on 24 October to double the patrols to eight, with seven patrolling the border in the area of the Koper Police Department in the south-west of Slovenia and one in the area of the Nova Gorica Police Department further north on the Slovenian-Italian border.

The two police forces also agreed to exchange information more promptly to allow for more flexible planning of joint policing of the border, the Slovenian police also said.

Border areas will be patrolled alternately on both sides of the border on the basis of a detailed analysis of the routes used by illegal migrants. The legal basis for the cooperation is the 2007 Slovenia-Italy agreement on cross-border police cooperation.

In the July-September period, over 1,900 foreigners were processed for crossing the Slovenian-Italian border illegally in the area policed by the Koper Police Department, up from almost 1,800 in the same three-month period in 2018. In the area covered by the Nova Gorica Police Department, 42 persons were processed, up from 33.

STA, 4 November 2019 - Slovenian police have arrested nine foreigners who tried to help migrants illegally cross the border and processed around 150 cases of illegal border crossing in the south-west of the country since Wednesday.

On Saturday, police spotted a car with German licence plates in the town of Kozina running a red light and then speeding up towards Italy.

Notifying Italian police, Slovenian police followed the car into Italy, where it crashed into another car in Basovizza, the Koper Police Department said on Monday.

The car was driven by an Iraqi with an Iraqi woman co-driver, both of whom had their status approved in Germany. They were transporting two Iraqi illegal migrants and a child.

Once apprehended, the foreign citizens were taken to an Italian hospital and the investigation was taken over by Italian law enforcement.

On the same day, police pulled over three cars registered in Italy near the town of Knežak.

They arrested a Romanian, an Italian woman and three Pakistani citizens for organising illegal transport of migrants across the border.

All twelve foreigners whom the suspects brought to Slovenia without proper documents were sent to a centre for foreigners. Ten of them were Eritreans.

Two days earlier, an Albanian citizen driving a car with Italian licence plates and transporting two Albanian illegal migrants was also arrested in the south-west.

Both illegal migrants were sent back to Croatia, and an investigating judge placed the driver in detention.

On Friday, a 53-year old Croatian citizen was found transporting three Turkish illegal migrants. He too was placed in detention.