ZAGREB, April 20, 2018 - The number of migrants entering Croatia illegally has increased by two-thirds compared to last year, and police expect that five counties will find themselves on the migrant route this spring.
Police said in a statement to Hina on Friday that this spring the counties of Osijek-Baranja, Vukovar-Srijem, Karlovac, Lika-Senj and Sisak-Moslavina could find themselves on the path of illegal migrants trying to reach Western Europe.
In the first quarter of 2018, a total of 1,371 persons were caught in attempts to cross the Croatian border illegally, an increase of 72 percent over the same period in 2017 when 801 persons were reported.
The number of asylum seekers has also increased. From January to March this year, 292 people applied for asylum in Croatia, as against 238 at the same time last year.
A total of 294 persons were turned back as part of readmission, mostly to Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina from which they had illegally entered Croatia.
Among the 1,371 illegal migrants, most of them were from Afghanistan, Kosovo, Pakistan and Turkey. Afghans accounted for 20 percent of all illegal migrants in the first three months of this year. Broken down by nationality, in the first quarter of 2018 the number of Afghans processed for illegal entry was 399, compared with 126 last year. The number of Turks was 159 (41 last year) and Pakistanis 115 (42). The number of Kosovars and Albanians dropped from 252 to 163 and from 98 to 88 respectively.
In percentage terms, the largest increase in illegal migrants was recorded among Tunisians, as 35 of them were reported in the first quarter of this year compared to one in 2017. The number of Syrians increased from 27 to 88 and of Iranians from 34 to 84.
The other countries of origin of illegal migrants who were processed in the first three months of this year, including their helpers, are: Bosnia and Herzegovina (26), Algeria (18), Iraq (17), Morocco (12), Serbia (12) and Bangladesh (11). 144 persons came from other countries.
