Pressure at the borders of the Czech Republic is increasing substantially as a sharply-rising number of migrants penetrate the European Union and make their way west, according to reports.
Czechia and Austria have reintroduced border controls with Slovakia as thousands of migrants coming mainly from Syria via Turkey have been caught attempting to enter illegally in recent weeks.
"We must take this preventive measure in order to deal with the situation in the long term and to discourage illegal migrants from taking this route," Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala announced in a recent press conference.
Czech authorities have detained over 12,000 illegal migrants so far this year, including more than 9,500 since early June.
Around 1,330 migrants were apprehended during the whole of 2021.
"From midnight Wednesday night to Thursday, border controls will be reintroduced at 27 old border crossing points along the entire length of the border with Slovakia for at least the next ten days," Czech national police announced on Monday.
1/2 Počínaje půlnocí ze středy na čtvrtek budou minimálně na následujících 10 dnů po celé délce státní hranice se Slovenskou republikou znovuzavedeny hraniční kontroly na 27 bývalých hraničních přechodech.
— Policie ČR (@PolicieCZ) September 26, 2022
The Czech Ministry of the Interior published a map of road and rail border crossings that will now be actively patrolled and restricted.
ℹ️ Chystáte se od 29. září 2022 na Slovensko❓ Myslete na to, že to po dočasném znovuzavedení kontrol na hranicích jde jen na stanovených místech.
— Ministerstvo vnitra (@vnitro) September 28, 2022
Seznam najdete na online mapě👇https://t.co/SkgnUs8Jrt
Prosíme, buďte trpěliví. Budeme se snažit, aby byl přechod co nejrychlejší. pic.twitter.com/DlD8ozVrWg
Authorities have been posting videos and information about human smuggling events disrupted at the border, including one in which police fired warning shots after a driver charged through a checkpoint in a vehicle carrying more than a dozen migrants.
"It wasn't until the warning shots of police officers from the Prague SPJ stopped the smuggler who was transporting 15 migrants early this morning," police explained.
"Even before that, he drove through a border checkpoint at high speed. After a short chase, the police arrested him in the forest, where he tried to escape from the car."
Až varovné výstřely policistů z pražské SPJ zastavily dnes nad ránem převaděče, který převážel 15 migrantů. Ještě před tím projel vysokou rychlostí kontrolním stanovištěm na hranicích. Po krátkém pronásledování ho policisté zadrželi v lese, kam se snažil z auta utéci. #policiepha pic.twitter.com/kEjeunT3po
— Policie ČR (@PolicieCZ) September 29, 2022
The border controls will be in place for at least 10 days, but could be extended if the situation does not improve.
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(PHOTO: Screenshots / Czech Police)