In an effort to stem the flow of individuals, largely Syrians, entering western Europe illegally, Czech police fired warning shots at a vehicle carrying migrants on Thursday as they started conducting border checks with Slovakia.
Police started checking all 27 road and rail entry points as well as patrols outside of border crossings. They detained nine suspected people smugglers and apprehended over 100 migrants.
Around 12,000 illegal immigrants have been apprehended in the Czech Republic so far this year, a 12-fold rise from the previous year.
According to the government, the vast majority of those arriving were Syrians, who mainly came from Turkey. After being screened by police, they continued their journey to Germany and other countries.
Martin Vondrasek, the president of the Czech police, claimed that three warning shots were fired by officers while they pursued and apprehended an Iraqi man driving a van full of 16 unauthorised immigrants, all of whom were thought to be from Syria.
On the 252-km (157-mile) border, more than 500 police officers will be stationed for at least 10 days. Austria followed the Czech Republic’s lead and began border inspections with Slovakia on Thursday.
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