Slovenia setting up razor-wire fence to curb migrant entry

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- Slovenia began setting up a razor-wire fence along its border with Croatia on Wednesday in an attempt to curb the entry of migrants.

A convoy of Slovenian military trucks carrying the fence and bulldozers arrived to the town of Veliki Obrez before soldiers began unwinding the nearly 6-foot fence along Slovenia's side of the Sutla River that divides the country from Croatia.

Slovenian Interior Minister Vesna Gyorkos Znidar said the measures "are not popular, but they are necessary."

Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar announced the fence on Tuesday with the aim of stopping migrants from the Middle East and Africa from entering illegally -- diverting them to regular border crossings instead.

Cerar said he expects about 30,000 new migrants to reach Slovenia's border. He said Slovenia was not closing its 400-mile border with Croatia, but rather using a "technical barrier" to direct migrant movement.

"If we don't act on time, this could cause a humanitarian catastrophe on the territory of Slovenia," Cerar said.

About 170,000 migrants are estimated to have crossed into Slovenia since mid-October when Hungary closed its border with Croatia by also setting up a razor-wire fence.

About 52 percent of the estimated more than 750,000 migrants that have entered European Union member states are Syrians, followed by migrants from Afghanistan (19 percent), Iraq (6 percent) and Eritrea (5 percent). About 65 percent of migrants are men, 20 percent are children and 14 percent are women.