IMPROVED police work and far better cooperation with Ukraine since the change in government in Kiev, are behind the large drop in the number of illegal immigrants entering Slovakia in 2005, the SITA news agency reported.
Border police chief Michal Borgula and Migration Office head Bernard Priecel reported that the number dropped to one-fifth of 2004’s first quarter figure.
The first quarter of 2004 saw 3,000 illegal migrants enter the country, while that figure dropped to about 600 in the corresponding period this year. Of 11,500 migrants who applied for asylum in 2004, 350 remain in the asylum process.
Since the establishment of the Slovak Republic in 1993, around 650 people have been granted asylum in Slovakia. More than half of these have however already left for other EU countries.
Compiled by Beata Balogová from press reports
TheSlovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the informationpresented in its Flash News postings.
