Migrant crisis: Slovenia caps refugee intake to 2,500 people per day

Slovenia will only allow 2,500 migrants through its borders daily, it has been reported. Slovenia's Interior Ministry Secretary of State Bostjan Sefic said Slovenia could not accept Croatia's request to take 5,000 migrants because Austria's daily limit is 1,500.

Yesterday, (18 October) it was reported that Slovenia's army will help authorities deal with thousands of migrants who are expected to arrive from Croatia in the coming days, Prime Minister Miro Cerar has said. This announcement comes as hundreds of migrants began to stream across the Balkans to the country's border with Croatia, after Hungary closed it's frontier with Croatia.

Meanwhile, refugees from Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq are crossing through Croatia and Slovenia to reach western Europe, but the limitations have led to an accumulation of migrants and refugees at the Croatian-Serbian border. Buses of people were held up in Serbia on Sunday, creating tension among migrants, who have spent weeks walking from Turkey, via Greece, Macedonia and Serbia.

Slovenia became the main route for migrants after Hungary closed its borders to them on Friday night, due to security concerns. Slovenia has declined requests by Croatia on Sunday to send it a second train of migrants.

"We cannot accept (an) unlimited number of migrants if we know that they cannot continue their journey," Bostjan Sefic, state secretary at Slovenia's interior ministry announced at a press conference on Sunday. "I believe Croatia, Serbia and Macedonia will also have to take measures," he said.

The BBC reports that 4,000 migrants are waiting at a reception centre in the east Croatian town of Opatovac, hoping for an onward journey towards Slovenia.

Croatia had diverted migrants to Slovenia after Hungary closed its borders. Croatia had asked Slovenia to accept 5,000 migrants per day, while Austria is only allowing a maximum 1,500 migrants each day. The UN's refugee agency report that 4,000 migrants crossed into Slovenia on Saturday, and Austria Austria said it had allowed through around 1,000 people on Sunday morning.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said they would work hard to prevent illegal migration, but contend that the migrant crisis could not be resolved without a solution to the Syrian conflict.

The Italian navy tweeted on Sunday that it had rescued 113 migrants and found eight bodies in a rubber boat, attempting to cross the Mediterranean.