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Slovak police detains hundreds of illegal migrants

Xinhua, November 9, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Slovak police have detained some 700 illegal migrants at the country's borders since the spring of 2015, confirmed Slovak Interior Minister Robert Kalinak on Sunday.

"They were economic migrants. They were detained between April-May and the present," said Kalinak, adding that Slovakia is gradually repatriating them. "We do this constantly, every week," he stated.

According to Kalinak, police officers are protecting Slovak borders effectively.

"We managed to repel the greatest migrant influx pressure that was here in August and September," he said. Every illegal migrant has been given a choice - either cross the border and be detained or head back. Kalinak pointed out that the police have found maps on migrants that characterize individual EU countries by a single word.

"They wrote 'fence' for Hungary and 'prison' for Slovakia," claimed Kalinak.

Kalinak conceded that Slovakia hasn't accepted a single asylum seeker on a voluntary basis yet. He said that the procedure in question is rather challenging, but Slovakia intends to shelter 100 Syrian Christians on a voluntary basis. Endit