THE SLOVAK police have arrested 40 Chinese citizens near the village of Konus in the Sobrance district over the past few days. None of them were carrying travel documents, news wire SITA wrote.
The foreigners illegally crossed the Slovak-Ukrainian border and because they did not apply for asylum, were sent back to Ukraine over the weekend, Police Corps Presidium spokeswoman Magda Krasulová said.
In the first half of 2004, 1,067 illegal immigrants were detained for illegally crossing the state border into Slovakia, mostly from the Ukraine, and 2,537 immigrants illegally crossed the state border from Slovak territory into Austria and the Czech Republic.
This number is lower in comparison to the same period of last year, when the police detained 12,493 illegal immigrants, 10,358 of which applied for asylum.
Foreigners detained in 2004 were mostly citizens of Russia (925), India (658) and Georgia (411), but also Moldova, Somalia, China and other countries. The most common explanation for the illegal visits included 1,027 cases where foreigners indicated they were applying for asylum, while 27 cases were returning home, 396 cases were in transit, 138 cases were tourist-related trips and 7 cases were due to losing their way.
Compiled by Beata Balogová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
