Slovenia is the final leg in the journey into European Union member states for migrants on the so called "Balkans route". Slovenia's participation in the Schengen agreement allows people to move freely into other European member countries, without having to be checked at the borders. Migrants have been crossing from Croatia into Slovenia, in the hope of using those benefits to get to their final destinations in Western Europe. Our Aljosa Milenkovic has more from the Slovenian border.

An unmarked police car is driving fast along the border with Croatia, scanning for signs of illegal border crossings, close to the town of Ilirska Bistrica. After a while officers proceed on foot. Recently, in this section alone, they've been apprehending on average 20 migrants a day who illegally cross the border.

VILIJAM TOSKAN, HEAD DEPT. FOR STATE BORDER AND FOREIGNERS, POLICE DISTRICT OF KOPER "This year we have faced increasing pressure from illegal migration. As of October 29th, we registered over 3,300 people who tried to illegally cross the border. During the same time last year, the number was several times smaller. It was around 600. The origins of the migrants have also changed. This year, we have mostly people from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Algeria, and Morocco."

Barbed wire and 3-meter tall fences are not deterring those determined to reach the Schengen countries of the EU. But many have serious help from both sides of the border. This is police parking where impounded smugglers' vehicles are kept. License plates from all over Europe. Seventy smugglers have been detained and prosecuted this year alone. But those are just small fish. The main kingpins are elusive and far from any danger. As we were told, they charge enormous amounts of money to the people hoping to find a better life in the EU.

PERVEZ MAZHER INTERPRETER "Some of them say that they are here because of some problems, like economic problems. Some are saying they have family problems, some say they have enemies in their country or there is a war going on. But the reality is that from Pakistan it is not so. Mostly they come for economic reasons."

Pervez Mazher is originally from Pakistan and has lived in Slovenia for 55 years. Now he's helping Slovenian police find common language with migrants coming from that part of the world. And today there were four of them.

ALJOSA MILENKOVIC ILIRSKA BISTRICA "These former military barracks here in Ilirska Bistrica have been converted to a reception center for those who illegally cross the border. When police apprehend the migrants, this is where they are taken for interviews, fingerprint scanning and attempts to establish their true identity."

Because of EU laws, we were not allowed to speak with the migrants or to film their faces, but judging by their appearances, it was pretty obvious what kind of ordeal they'd been through on their journey.

Now, it is up to the law to decide their future, but whatever happens, it doesn't seem likely they'll give up their European dream.

Aljosa Milenkovic, CGTN, Ilirska Bistrica in Slovenia.