There are currently about a hundred people in Slovenian jails detained on charges of organising transport for illegal migrants and the government has decided to make its asylum policy stricter because that institute is being abused, Slovenia's Minister of Interior Ales Hojs said on Monday.

Addressing a news conference with regard to last Saturday’s arrest of 144 illegal migrants and two migrant smugglers along the western border, some of whom were readmitted from Italy in cooperation with Italian authorities, Hojs said that the incumbent government had decided to make its asylum policy stricter in an effort to prevent abuse of the instrument for international protection for asylums seekers.

Hojs added that this year 10,000 to 11,000 illegal crossings into Slovenia had been registered however after being arrested only about one-fifth apply for asylum in Slovenia and about 70% of them leave asylum centres before their applications have been processed.

According to Hojs, that means that the majority of them decide to keep going until they reach their desired destination in north or west Europe.

Given that this issue has not been resolved with the latest European Commission migrant pact, Slovenia will in future probably bar asylum seekers from leaving their accommodation centres while their asylum requests are being processed and parliament is expected to adopt a new law on aliens that will strictly define who has the right to asylum, Hojs said among other things.