Croatia Refuses Slovenia Request to Take Back some Migrants

Croatia has refused a request from Slovenia to take back migrants who have crossed the countries' shared border and are not fleeing war, a police spokesman told Agence France Presse Thursday.

"Slovenia asked us for the re-admission of 162 people. We did not accept that and have informed our neighbours about everything," Croatian police spokesman Domagoj Dzigumovic told AFP.

The request, made late Wednesday, referred to nationals of countries that were not affected by war, Dzigumovic said, adding that the 162 migrants were still in Slovenia.

Slovenia made no immediate comment on the Croatian decision.

Dzigumovic said a video conference was due later Thursday between national coordinators from the region to discuss the migrant crisis. 

Serbia and Macedonia, which also lie on the main migrant route to northern Europe, have also begun restricting entry only to refugees only from Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq, aid workers said Thursday.

Hundreds of thousands of migrants have been crossing through the Balkans from Greece this year after fleeing war or poverty, aiming to start new lives in more prosperous northern European countries.