The caretaker government of Slovakia approved today the extension of temporary controls on its border with Hungary until Nov. 3 as it tries to tackle a rise in illegal immigration.

The central European country imposed border controls on October 5 for a period of 10 days.

The number of migrants entering Slovakia, mainly from the Middle East and Afghanistan, has risen 11-fold to nearly 40,000 this year, according to government figures. In September alone, illegal immigration to Slovakia was at such levels as it was for the whole of 2022.

The migrants, mostly young men, have come mainly through the so-called Balkan corridor, via Hungary from Serbia, and are moving towards wealthier Germany and western Europe.

“As the problem with illegal immigration continues… it is proposed to continuously extend the temporary renewal of internal border controls with Hungary from 15 October to 3 November 2023,” according to documents on the Slovak government website. According to these documents, there was a decrease in the number of immigrants taken into custody the week the controls were imposed.