Slovenia began work on a razor-wire fence along its border Wednesday to keep out an influx of migrants that would lead to a “human catastrophe” for the country as winter sets in, according to authorities.
A convoy of army trucks loaded with construction equipment and barbed wire arrived at the southern border with Croatia in Veliki Obrez on Wednesday. At dawn, soldiers rolled out the razor wire along the river Sotla, The New York Times reports.
Slovenia’s razor-wire fence on portions of its 400-mile border comes a week after Austria announced it would begin building a wall on its border with Slovenia to stem the tide of migrants flowing into the country, drawing criticism from Berlin.
The Baltic country of Slovenia sits astride the route migrants take from the war-torn Middle East to the southern border of the Schengen area, where they can travel passport-free throughout the European Union.
Over 180,000 migrants have arrived in Slovenia from Croatia in the past three weeks after Hungary closed its border. In September, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban called the influx of refugees a “German problem” and ordered army engineers to build a 13-foot wall along Hungary’s 109-mile border to keep the refugees out.
Slovenia has said that it could handle the number of migrants entering the country — between 6,000 to 8,000 a day — as long as the same number exited the country, The New York Times reported. Most migrants have Germany as their final destination.
But after Germany increased scrutiny and screening for migrants, and Austria announced it could handle only 6,000 migrants per day, Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar said 30,000 migrants might end up stranded in Slovenia.
If Germany and Austria should toughen restrictions, or refuse entry to the migrants completely, 100,000 people could end up in Slovenia, Mr. Cerar said.
“If we don’t act now, we could have a humanitarian catastrophe on the territory of Slovenia,” Mr. Cerar told a news conference Tuesday, The New York Times reported.
The country is ill-equipped to handle tens of thousands of migrants as winter approaches. Slovenia has asked for financial help, personnel and equipment, like winterized tents, to stave off a disaster. So far, that help “is only trickling in,” The New York Times said. The country has received 10 million euros, “or about $10.72 million, a fraction of the amount the country needs to care for the migrants.”
Slovenia’s fence underlines the European Union’s lack of cohesive response to the largest refugee crisis since World War II.
While some Western countries, like Germany, have agreed to take in large numbers of migrants, other Baltic countries, like Hungary, have been resistant to even allow passage through their country.
The numbers of migrants European countries are willing to take has also varied widely. While economically unstable Greece has taken in nearly 142,000 migrants since June 1 of this year, according to the International Organization for Migration, and Italy has taken in 107,000 refugees, the United Kingdom has limited the number of refugees it takes in to those already in humanitarian camps in the Middle East.
European Union leaders will meet again in Malta on Wednesday, their sixth meeting this year, to discuss the crisis.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.