This year, approximately 62,000 people crossed the Croatian border. illegal migrants, i.e. by 70 percent more than last year. Half did not report to Croatian centers, and 97 percent of them soon left Croatia and went to other European countries.
In the north of the country, 60 percent were detained. more smugglers than a year ago. Two-thirds of them are foreigners, the daily recalled.
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The report by the Croatian authorities indicates that one of the reasons for the increase in immigration is “manipulation of this phenomenon by Serbia.” This country has not harmonized the rules of its visa policy with the standards in force in the EU, which is why people get there legally and then illegally try to cross the EU borders.
According to the government in Zagreb, 15 times more Afghans and several thousand Russians are currently arriving in Croatia than three years ago – something that was not recorded before the country’s aggression against Ukraine, which began in February 2022.
-Political scientist Andielko Milardović noted that “men are fleeing from Russia from mobilization, and from Afghanistan from the general crisis”. – However, if you look at the statistics, it is interesting that the migrants are mainly men in their prime who do not take their wives with them, he added.
Croatia is located on the so-called the Balkan route, leading through Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is one of the main migration corridors leading to the European Union. The number of submitted asylum applications in the country has increased by 700% this year, and the Minister of Interior Davor Božinović announced in October that almost 1,000 had already been captured in 2023. people smugglers.
