Ljubljana - Police dealt with 8,144 instances of illegal crossing of the border in the first ten months of 2021, nearly 39% fewer than in the same period last year. The most frequently processed illegal migrants were from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, who accounted for almost half of the total number.

The police note that the rise in the number of illegal crossings is currently slower than expected, with the area covered by the Koper Police Department remaining the most exposed.

An increase was noted in the area covered by the Maribor Police Department as well, mainly due to those who try to avoid the anti-Covid measures or congestion by crossing the border outside official crossing points.

Migrants still mostly continue their journey after reaching Slovenia, heading towards their destination countries. Currently, the highest numbers of illegal entries at internal EU borders are being recorded at the borders with Hungary and Austria.

In terms of numbers, the most frequently processed illegal migrants in Slovenia were from Afghanistan (2,354), Pakistan (1,305) and Bangladesh (888), but the numbers of Pakistani and Bangladeshi migrants are significantly lower compared to 2020.

The number of Moroccan migrants decreased significantly as well, as only 157 came in compared to 2,370 in the first ten months of last year. On the other hand, there was a notable increase in the number of migrants from Turkey (547 compared to 175 in 2020).

The total number of persons who were returned to the Slovenian police (185) and of those returned to foreign authorities (3,504) has also decreased quite significantly in 2021, compared to the same period last year (1,230 and 9,238, respectively).