Over the past two years, more than 2,700 Iraqis have entered Slovenia in an attempt to reach other European countries, according to a Slovenian police official. The majority of these individuals, 1,579 in 2022 and 1,150 the year prior, arrived through the Croatia border, as reported by SchengenVisaInfo.com.
To address this issue, Slovenia reintroduced border controls with Croatia and Hungary. This temporary measure, initially enacted in October 2023, has been consistently extended by Slovenia to prevent terrorism, extremism, people smuggling, and irregular migration.
Since the reintroduction of border control, Slovenian police have recorded 12,634 irregular crossings, significantly fewer than the 21,000 recorded in the same period before border controls were reinstated.
Despite the border controls, nearly 20,000 individuals migrated out of Iraq and Kurdistan last year, with at least nine of them losing their lives on dangerous and illegal smuggling routes. The long-term trend shows that since 2015, more than 760,000 people have migrated out of Iraq and Kurdistan.
Factors such as political instability, corruption, and unemployment continue to drive migration from Iraq. In response to these challenges, Slovenia has implemented various measures, including the creation of temporary facilities for migrants at the Obrežje border crossing with Croatia, as well as the introduction of stricter border controls in cooperation with Croatia and Italy.
Last week, the interior ministers of Slovenia, Croatia, and Italy met to address and prevent irregular migration along the Western Balkan route. In the coming months, Slovenia plans to host additional meetings with interior ministers from both European and Western Balkan countries to strengthen cooperation and address migration challenges.
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