By: P.T., PU
Police officers received a call today at 5.42 from an Afghan citizen who said more people needed help. He could not tell where they were located, except that they were in the woods. At 6.12 we were called by a citizen from Rakitovec, who was approached by migrants, citizens of Iran and Afghanistan, who said that there were even more people in the forest, including a woman who had just given birth.
The police together with members of the Slovenian Army managed to locate the migrants (according to GPS coordinates), a total of 10: 4 citizens of Iran and 6 citizens of Afghanistan. They were in the woods, about an hour’s walk from Rakitovec. Rescuers who arrived at the scene together with firefighters offered help to the migrants, and the mother with her the new-born were taken to Izola General Hospital; both are healthy. There were two families together: from Iran and Afghanistan, all of whom applied for international protection.
At 9.37 am, police officers together with representatives of the Slovenian Army found a Moroccan citizen with a 7-month-old baby, who was also born on the way, in Bihač, both are asylum seekers in Croatia. Police officers also provided basic care for them. They took care of dry clothes and all other necessities for the boy, especially with the help of the Center for Foreigners and the coordinator from the Center for Social Work in Koper.
Not long ago, police officers in the area of the Ilirska Bistrica Police Station rescued a family with small children who had spent the whole night in snow and cold.
Police officers are often touched by the stories of migrants and do more than what is expected of them. Just yesterday, one of the police officers at the Ilirska Bistrica Police Station tried to cheer up the children of the migrant families – namely, one of the children is just as old as his son.