Director of Border Police of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Zoran Galic warned that this agency cannot protect BiH’s border alone and that there are about 1,000 officers needed.
Since the beginning of the year, in cooperation with other police agencies, police officers working at the border have been able to prevent the entry of more than 7,000 illegal crossings.
Galic stressed that they could not cope with the migrant crisis on their own, because for years the competent institutions have closed their eyes to the fact that about 1,000 staff are missing.
“The BiH Border Police, with existing material and technical capacities and the current number of officers will not be able to respond independently to the complex situation at the border,” Galic told Dnevni Avaz.
According to Galic, not only domestic but also international competent institutions and agencies, which are expected to receive material and financial assistance, should be more actively involved in solving the migrant crisis in BiH.
He added that border controls are being carried out at 83 international border crossings.
Galic said the agency lacks day and night monitoring equipment, various types of sensors and radar systems for detecting illegal crossings, drones, special vehicles, mobile equipment for accessing databases to identify migrants in the border zone.
He stressed that the largest percentage of illegal immigrants are the so-called economic migrants, mostly Pakistanis, Iraqis, Syrians, Iranians and Afghans.
Galic said that the Border Police of BiH has 2,051 officers and neighboring Croatia has about 6,000 border guards, with EU countries having far better equipment than those used in BiH.
