The Slovenian parliament has passed legislation that gives the army
more power to help stem a refugee influx that increased drastically
since neighbouring Hungary sealed off its border last week.
Aljazzera reports:
Parliament members voted 66-5 early on Wednesday to allow
the troops to warn, direct and temporarily restrict the movement of
persons or engage in crowd control, as police normally do. The law
envisages that the new measures can put in force in an exceptional
situation and for three months with the possibility to extend the
period.
Slovenian soldiers have already been deployed to help control the border.
More than 20,000 refugees have arrived in Slovenia since Saturday
morning in order to pass through to Western European countries. At least
6,000 spent the last night in Slovenia which provided them with shelter
in refugee centres. Prime Minister Miro Cerar told reporters before the
vote in parliament that the government will “ask the EU for police
back-up and for financial help” to deal with the refugee crisis.
Opposition parties said the government should follow Hungary and put
up a fence on Slovenia’s border with Croatia to prevent refugees
entering the country. An official from the interior ministry said the
possibility “of safeguarding border crossings with physical obstacles”
cannot be excluded if the flow of refugees escalates.
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