ILLEGAL CROSSING [Main Title]

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  • Title: ILLEGAL CROSSING [Main Title]
  • Film Number: UNT 588
  • Other titles: UNITED NATIONS TELEVISION (UNTV) ZAGREB COLLECTION, YUGOSLAVIA [Allocated Series Title]
  • Summary: UNTV investigates the dilemma faced by some refugees in Slovenia unable to obtain visas for third countries who turn to smugglers as their last chance and interviews with some who tried this and failed.
  • Description: Many Bosnians are trying to leave their country to seek asylum in Austria, Germany, or Italy. 26,000 Bosnians are in Slovenia but are becoming frustrated with obstacles that prevent them from leaving. As a consequence, illegal smuggling of Bosnians out of Slovenia has become a highly organised business. Footage of a man making a phone call to ‘The Mediator’, who says that for three people it would cost 2,500/2,600 DM to reach Salzburg, and the man is warned that part of the journey will be on foot. Footage shows people crossing the Slovenian border in the dark. Marko Gašperlin, Chief of the Office for Border Protection and Foreigners explains the scale of the operation made up of international organisers and local mediators and drivers. If caught, the refugees are sent back to Slovenia and re-housed. In an interview a woman describes her attempts to leave. She says that it is very hard to get the correct legal documents. She decided to go illegally and was shocked by the experience of going through the woods in the dark without clear direction. She was caught and returned to Ljubljana where she is applying to leave legally. Interview with a deserter from the Bosnian army. He decided to cross the border alone and the military did not notice him until he surrendered because he was so hungry. He disapproves of organisations that make money out of people trying to escape their current circumstances. As a deserter, he cannot get legal refugee status. Refugee status is only granted to those fleeing persecution. The Bosnian embassy in Ljubljana says that men of military age will never be given documents to go to a third country, only a document that allows them to return back to Bosnia. These problems leave many Bosnians in limbo, living in Slovenian housing, who want their freedom but are unsure what to do to achieve it.
  • Alternative Title: UNITED NATIONS TELEVISION (UNTV) ZAGREB COLLECTION, YUGOSLAVIA [Allocated Series Title]
  • Colour: English (Tape Code A)
  • Digitised:
  • Object_Number: UNT 588
  • Sound: Bosnian (Tape Code B)
  • Access Conditions:
  • Featured Period: 1990-2000
  • Production Date: 1995-01 1995-03-31
  • Production Country: UN
  • Production Details: Dodsworth, Anne (Production individual) Hvala, Jerne (Production individual) Warner, Simon (Production individual) Pavlinić, Sven (Production individual) Hrebickova, Janina (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations:
  • Keywords:
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: English (Tape Code A) Sound format: Bosnian (Tape Code B) Soundtrack language: Croatian (Tape Code C) Title language: Serbian (Tape D)
  • Technical Details: Format: Beta-SP Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Running time: 10 mins 19 secs
  • HD Media:
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    UNT 588

  • Related IWM Collections Objects:

    UNT 640 (UNTV PROGRAMME NO 71 [Main Title]) UNT 588 X (ILLEGAL CROSSING (UNEDITED RUSHES) [Allocated Title]) UNT 864F-698F (UNITED NATIONS TELEVISION: "BEHIND THE FRONTLINES" SERIES (FINAL CUTS, TAPE 1) [Allocated Title]) UNT 842 (GYPSY VIDEO LETTER [Main Title])
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