During the press conference in capital Sarajevo, Mektic said that a total of 6 illegal migrants are put under supervision and detained in the Immigration Service Center in East Sarajevo, out of whom 5 are linked to international terrorism and 1 is linked to migrants smuggling and organized crime, and they are all threat to public security.
Mektic showed his concern on the information that there are some 70,000 migrants currently residing in Greece, moving to the European Union (EU) countries, noting that the BiH authorities are worried because there is a possibility migrants will choose the route through the Western Balkans.
“The daily influx of migrants from Turkey to Greece is some 300, and this is a serious number of migrants who have the intention to reach the EU over the Western Balkans,” Mektic said, adding that BiH’s authorities will face serious problems.
When referring to the conclusions of the meeting held on Tuesday, Mektic said that the BiH government continue focusing on three key issues: how to protect the border in the south-eastern part where migrants enter the country, how to ensure a fair and humane treatment for migrants and how to better manage the security situation to prevent the commission of crimes at the expense of the domestic population.
Inspectors located the suspected persons on the basis of intensified measures and through cooperation and exchange of information with the domestic and international partners, primarily through the exchange of biometric data, was stated in BiH’s Service for Foreigner’s Affairs press statement on Tuesday.
The Service, together with partner agencies, have identified the suspects based on their previous expulsion measures and are working actively on the determination of all other facts necessary for their removal from BiH, since they are a threat for national security, the press statement added.
BiH’s Service for Foreigner’s Affairs stated that their priority will be to continue locating and processing migrants linked to terrorism or organized crime, which will make a significant contribution to the security of the country and its citizens.
The Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) accepted the information on the inflow of migrants in BiH.
According to the Information, in the period from January -7 February 2019, the Foreigners Affairs Service registered 997 illegal migrants.
The intent to submit an application for asylum in this period was expressed by 828 persons, while only 17 of them filed an application for asylum.
Majority of migrants came from Pakistan (17.1 percent), Syria (15.2 percent), Iraq (14.4 percent), Algeria (12.7 percent) and Morocco (10.9 percent).
In the period from 28 January to 7 February 2019, 301 illegal migrants were registered by the Foreigners Affairs Service, while 243 persons declared intent to submit asylum application, while only eight of them submitted the asylum application.
