What is the state of immigration like in Slovenia? Illegal migration is becoming part of everyday life at our borders. While migration numbers have been positive for many years, Slovenians are emigrating, and demographics are in free fall.
In the past, we only knew of the problems caused by mass migration from the Third World indirectly through the news coming to us from abroad. Today, unfortunately, this is changing at a great speed, as groups of migrants marching through the streets are becoming commonplace in our capital. Thefts, burglaries and other crimes committed by migrants are becoming more frequent. There have also been several sexual assaults, and migrants have reportedly often harassed girls in Ljubljana in the evenings on weekends. Reports of hundreds of illegal migrants being caught by the police at our borders every week are also nothing new. The people currently in charge of our country are in favour of mass migration and are solving the labour shortage by importing foreigners.
As a result, a major demographic replacement is also taking place in Slovenia. By removing the border fence, the government has made it clear to migrants that Slovenia is the right choice for them on their way to the European Union. Today, instead of Schengen, we once again have checkpoints at the borders with Austria and Italy, two countries that clearly take the migrant problem a little more seriously. Meanwhile, Slovenian police officers are wasting time and energy at our expense in preventing the migrant invasion.
Fluctuating numbers of illegal migrants
Although their numbers fluctuate slightly, migrants have been making their way to Europe and Slovenia for years. Last year, 60,587 illegal migrants were caught at the Slovenian border, compared to 32,024 the year before. In 2022, when we got the current government, there was a 214 percent increase in illegal migrants crossing the border compared to 2021. Interestingly, the number of illegal migrants in 2022 started to rise significantly precisely after Prime Minister Robert Golob took power. While in January 2022, 707 illegal border crossings were recorded, in December of that year alone, there were 4,524.
Do we need any more proof that the decision to remove the fence on the border, which the government announced it would do as soon as it came to power, was a clear signal to migrants? Well, this year the police have already recorded 3,430 illegal entries into Slovenia in January, compared to 2,573 in the same month a year earlier. By May, this number had risen to 17,439, while in 2023, 15,703 illegal entrants were apprehended in the same period. There were 21,243 illegal border crossings recorded this year before June, after which the number started to decrease. By the end of September this year, 37,212 illegal migrants had been apprehended, compared to 44,758 at the same time last year.
Ethnic composition of illegal immigrants
Last year, migrants were predominantly from Afghanistan, the citizens of which accounted for 30.6 percent of all migrants, and Moroccans, who accounted for 15.2 percent of all illegal border crossings. Thus, in 2023, we saw a resurgence of these two nationalities, with 6,004 Afghans in 2022 and 17,835 last year. An even greater difference can be observed for Moroccans, who numbered only 300 in 2022, compared with 8,859 the previous year. How do things stand this year, if we compare the different ethnicities coming to us? Syrians are the largest group, followed by Afghans and Turks. Last year, 1,095 Syrians came to us from Syria, and this year, there have already been 13,051 recorded. The number of Afghans has fallen, with “only” 5,719 having crossed our borders illegally by the end of September this year. The number of Turks has roughly doubled, from 1,540 last year to 3,314 this year. As for the other illegal migrants, they are small groups of different races and ethnicities. They range from Bosnians, Albanians and Kosovars, who are very few in numbers but mostly come here legally, to 930 illegal immigrants from Nepal, 1,693 from Bangladesh, 1,510 from Pakistan, 1,190 from Egypt, and many others.
Intentions to apply for asylum
If we thought that Slovenia’s borders would be relieved by the entry of neighbouring Croatia into the Schengen area, we were sadly mistaken. This year, the police officers of the Novo mesto police station are the busiest with migrants, dealing with 84.5 percent of all illegal crossings, and 97.6 percent of all illegal border crossings occur at the state border with Croatia. In order to avoid being returned to our southern neighbours, the vast majority of migrants, even if their destination country is not Slovenia, express their intention to apply for asylum. They are then taken to asylum centres and remain in Slovenia until further notice. In 2023, 58,757 such applications were recorded, compared to 35,802 by the end of September this year. Most asylum applications were made by Syrians, Afghans and Turks. The fact that 5,346 asylum applications had actually been submitted by the end of September last year, while 43,268 migrants expressed their intent to apply for asylum at that time, also shows that this is just a ruse by the illegal migrants to ensure that they are not returned to Croatia but are placed in asylum centres at our expense. In 2022, 6,787 applications were made, and 203 were approved, while in 2021, 5,301 applications were made, and only 17 were approved.
Foreign nationals and illegal residence
What about legal migration? Public data from the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia (SURS) show that 23,624 people immigrated to Slovenia from abroad in 2021, 35,613 in 2022, and 33,939 last year. Out of everyone who immigrated here last year, 4,031 were Slovenian, and 29,908 were foreign nationals. The migration of Slovenians was negative last year, with 5,627 emigrating. However, the migration of foreigners was positive, with 13,124 more immigrants arriving in Slovenia in 2023 than emigrating (22,411). The largest number of immigrants came from Bosnia and Herzegovina, accounting for 40 percent, followed by the second largest group – people from Kosovo. According to the latest data for the second quarter of this year, 205,998 foreign nationals are estimated to be living in Slovenia. By the end of September, 1,327 foreigners had been processed for illegal residence, compared to 1,664 at the same time last year. Most of them were Macedonians (256), Albanians (250) and Moldovans (171). There were also 156 Bosnian and Herzegovinians, 98 Kosovars, 45 Turks, 34 Indians, 26 Filipinos, 16 Nepalis and several others who were processed for illegal residence in Slovenia.
Andrej Sekulović
