The number of illegal entries into Slovenia has been increasing rapidly. Between January and July police recorded 26,871 illegal migrants, up by more than 150% compared to a year ago.

Afghan citizens continued to top the list of foreign nationals crossing into Slovenia illegally, with their figure rising from 1,592 to 5,385, show the latest police statistics.

The number of cases with Moroccan citizens shot up from 57 to 3,847. For Pakistani citizens it rose from 965 to 2,581 and for migrants from Bangladesh from 1,006 to 2,396.

Russians continued to flee their country as well, with 2,174 nationals recorded compared to just seven in the same period last year.

On the other hand, Burundi nationals disappeared from the statistics. They accounted for than 5,000 cases in the whole of 2022 due to a loophole, since closed, that allowed them to travel visa-free to Serbia.

Another striking figure is a drop in the number of foreign nationals returned to other countries in line with international agreements, from 1,593 to 191.

The number of the returns to Croatia, which rights groups have been accusing of violent pushbacks, plummeted from 1,489 to 140 despite the tripling of the number of recorded cases of illegal migrants that entered from Slovenia's southern neighbour.

Croatia remained the main entry point for illegal entries, accounting for 25,431 of the intercepted cases compared to 8,330 in the same period last year.