The route which illegal migrants often take to enter the European Union member states through the Balkans has been seeing increased traffic as the spring weather settles in. Migrants are continuing to flow in spite of border closures and national lockdowns in response to the ongoing Wuhan coronavirus pandemic.
Ports in Italy have been forced to take in migrants for “humanitarian reasons” in recent weeks despite the country’s announcement that it would not take in any more due to the pandemic, as previously reported by Voice of Europe.
But migrants are crossing into Italy by land as well.Migrants typically cross into northern Italy overland through Slovenia, arriving in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region.
The regional government has reported a “notable upturn” in migrant traffic in recent weeks, with more than 150 migrants coming to the region’s capital, Trieste, in a one-week period in late April and early May alone, according to a report by InfoMigrants.
Trieste’s authorities say that the city’s four migrant reception centres are already being overwhelmed. Tents have been set up for migrants on the outskirts of the city since there is no more space for new arrivals in the existing facilities.