LJUBLJANA, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- The city council of Ilirska Bistrica, a southwestern Slovenian municipality bordering with Croatia, has voiced their strong opposition to a proposed registration center for migrants.
According to the Slovenian Press Agency STA on Friday, the city council decided unanimously on Thursday that it would hold a local referendum should the state decide to set up a center at the border crossing of Jelsane.
The municipality is voicing their protest against the Jelsane registration center or any other facility for refugees or migrants on their territory, with the councillors urging the government to "boost security on the state border to protect locals and their property".
In case the state fails to comply with the referendum outcome, the locals would resort to other measures such as protest rallies and civil disobedience, the STA reported citing the municipality sources.
A few days ago two civil initiatives from the southeastern region of Bela Krajina held a protest in the border town of Metlika against a similar registration center.
Between autumn 2015 and spring 2016, more than 480,000 illegal migrants entered Slovenia from the Middle East, who came along the Balkan route and proceeded further north.
A total of 2,036 foreigners were apprehended in the regions crossing into Slovenia illegally on land between Jan. 1 and Aug. 19, up 248 percent from the same period last year.
The majority of illegal migrants were from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, and Algeria, according to the STA report.
