In the first four months of this year, police in the area of the Police Directorate Koper encountered 526 (during the same period last year there had been 162) people that had illegally crossed from Croatia to Slovenia, which is 325% more than during the same period in 2017. The illegal migrants are predominantly citizens of Syria, followed by citizens of Algeria, citizens of Kosovo, citizens of Afghanistan, citizens of Pakistan and citizens of Tunisia. And in the first 8 days of May, police officers encountered 105 more illegal border crossings. Most illegal migrants in Slovenia ask for international protection, after which they fall under state care.
The most frequent choice for an illegal crossing of the border is the region of Ilirska Bistrica. The border is primarily crossed near the border crossing points Jelšane in Starod and along the Šapjane – Ilirska Bistrica railway track. In the area of the Police Station Piran, popular places include the border crossing points Sečovlje and Dragonja, and in the area of the Police Station Koper, such places are Podgorje, Tuniši and Hrvoji.
Criminal organisations organising transport of migrants
This year, police officers from police stations and criminal investigators in Koper also dealt with 22 criminal offences involving a prohibited border crossing (under Article 308 of the Slovenian Criminal Code). In some cases, the perpetrators committed the crimes independently, but most of them were assisted by criminal organisations that organise crossings of migrants on the whole journey (Turkey, Serbia or Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia). The investigating judge of the court in Koper ordered detention for 8 apprehended suspects. Last year, detention had been ordered for 23 people who had been prosecuted for committing a criminal offence under Article 308 of the Criminal Code.
C. Š.