Since 21 October, when border checks were reinstated along the Italian-Slovenian border, Italian police forces have checked some 270,000 people and 150,000 vehicles on their entering the country to curb irregular migration.
The Slovenian government has announced it will set up temporary facilities to process migrants crossing its borders from Croatia.
Croatia is the latest EU-Schengen member to introduce temporary border checks, attributing the move to an increase in migrants attempting to cross into the country from neighboring states.
Police in Serbia conducted raids on irregular migrants in several northern border regions at the weekend, following a fatal shootout between smuggler groups.
Italy, Slovenia and Croatia on July 10 pledged to fight migrant trafficking and transnational organized crime at a trilateral meeting in the central Italian city of Ancona.
Italian police in the northeastern city of Trieste said it had ascertained that smugglers give sleeping pills to migrant children to prevent them from making a noise as they are moved at night across the Croatian-Slovenian border. Adults meanwhile were jacked up on energy drinks to make the trek across the mountainous region.
The investigative journalism project BIRN reports that Croatia has been carrying out mass expulsions of migrants to its neighbor, Bosnia. The two countries claim the returns are lawful under a bilateral agreement.
Human Rights Watch says the EU routinely turns a "blind eye" to brutality toward migrants and asylum seekers. Pushbacks have long been the "standard operating procedure" for Croatia’s border police, the watchdog added.
The Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) reports rising levels of suffering and misery on migration routes across the Balkans as well as the Mediterranean.
A group of refugees who said they were violently assaulted and pushed back by Croatian border officials have taken their case to Croatia's highest court, claiming authorities have failed to investigate the incident.
Leaked messages from an unofficial WhatsApp group made public by an investigative media report indicate that high-ranking Croatian officials shared and encouraged violent and illegal operations against migrants seeking asylum in the EU.
The Council of Europe has slammed member states for their "degrading treatment" of migrants at the borders. It said many were subjected to "punches and slap blows" by law enforcement officials.