More than 1,300 people rejected at the border between Italy and Slovenia

Twelve people are rejected every day at the border between Italy and Slovenia. This is the result of the suspension of Schengen and the subsequent reintroduction of controls on Italy’s eastern border. This was announced by Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, who responded to a parliamentary question presented by Democratic Party senator Tatjana Rojc by stating that 1,352 people were rejected in Slovenia.

This situation was repeated today, on March 21, 2024, at the tripartite meeting held in Brdo, Slovenia, between the Ministers of Internal Affairs of Italy and Slovenia, Bostjan Poklukar, and the Croatian Ministers Davor Bozinovic. According to data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs on the Italian-Slovenian border, since the resumption of border controls (21 October), Italian police forces have checked approximately 270,000 people and 150,000 vehicles at entry and tracked down 2,200 irregular foreigners: of these, more than 1,330 people were rejected (mostly Turkish, Moroccan, Syrian, Kosovo, Macedonian and Afghan citizens). While 118 people were arrested, 65 of them on charges of aiding illegal immigration, it was reported that 29 people were in the police database.

In practice, in the 113 days from the beginning of the suspension of the Schengen regime until last Tuesday, just under 4,000 migrants arrived in Trieste, but this does not mean that rejections were made against them. On the contrary, it is very likely that the number of rejections refers to people who were refused entry to Italy due to the lack of entry conditions when they arrived at the border.

First of all it is a political question

Because if the immigrants followed across the border have requested asylum, it is not only illegal but impossible to refuse it. Police forces operating at the border know this very well, and therefore it seems unlikely that the Ministry of Internal Affairs will order the readmission to Slovenia of those seeking international protection. The front line of Trieste’s reception knows this phenomenon very well, and in many respects, in cross-referencing data and statements, the absence of stories about rejections is revealed. In fact, the Minister of Internal Affairs was careful not to mention that these 1,352 people had refugee status in his public statements during Question Time. There were attempts to refuse only verbally and without any notice, TriestePrima learned. So there is nothing official. But it goes without saying that the problem is above all political.

“Asylum requests were not rejected”

The statements made by the Solidarity Consortium Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs owner Gianfranco Schiavone did not please those who expressed their disappointment in the press note. “They seem confused and not very coherent” underlines the number one Ics. “The resumption of internal border controls does not change in any way the foreign citizen’s right to seek asylum at the Italian border. Does Piantedosi intend to imply the fact that asylum seekers are being rejected? We have no evidence of this.” But if the minister had implied this, these rejections would have occurred in clear violation of international and European regulations, and the situation of complete illegality, which is believed to have been overcome at the Trieste border, would have been restored after the end of illegal readmissions. Are these the “rejected persons” the minister mentioned? What nationalities and origins? Have administrative rejection measures been issued on factual and legal grounds and notified to the relevant parties? These are all questions for the minister to answer. “There needs to be an immediate response,” he said.