A tent town in Kúty, western Slovakia. (source: Interior Ministry)
The Interior Ministry is building a tent town for illegal migrants in Kúty, a town near the border with Czechia, in response to increased illegal migration.
Police officers on site are coordinating the provision of basic health care and helping to provide food, especially for women and children.
Many migrants have concentrated at the Kúty railway station after Czechia and Austria decided to reintroduce border checks with Slovakia a few weeks ago. The checks will remain in place until mid-November, but the countries can extend them later.
Deployment of soldiers
Patrol activity in the Slovak regions bordering Czechia, Austria and Hungary has intensified as well. The police is also checking the trains arriving from Hungary and trains heading from Bratislava to Vienna.
On November 2, the government approved that 100 soldiers will help the police at the Slovak-Hungarian border.
Earlier on, 40 Slovak police officers were sent to Hungary’s external border with Serbia. The Interior Ministry is convinced that it would be better if Czechia cancelled border checks with Slovakia and sent its police officers to Hungary instead.
Meanwhile, in Brodské, a town next to Kúty, the ministry has also provided tents, blankets, sleeping bags and heating. The town initially housed some migrants in its cultural house, according to My Trnava.
The police said that they have not registered any illegal activities among migrants.
Emergency shelters near borders
The police detained a total of 2,675 illegal migrants from late September until October 31 for registration purposes.
The migrants are registered at a temporary police station in Brodské.
The ministry noted that migrants often aim to reach Germany, where their relatives and friends live, and do not want to apply for asylum in Slovakia.
According to the Interior Ministry’s website, migrants can also use facilities in Rohovce near Dunajská Streda and in Opatovská Nová Ves near Veľký Krtíš as emergency shelters. Tents should also be available on Regrútska Street in Bratislava, where a Foreigners’ Police department is located.
