Only during the last 24 hours, members of the Border Police (in Bosnian GP) Unit in Zvornik has deterred more than 60 migrants from attempting to cross the state border illegally, as they announced yesterday.
This information was confirmed by the Border Police of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).
They explain that, after a significant decrease in the influx of migrants during the winter, they are feeling the increased migratory pressure now. The arrival of spring and better weather caused it, and since the beginning of the migrant crisis, it is the largest in the eastern part of the state border from the direction of Serbia and Montenegro.
The largest number of GPBiH police officers was deployed there and maximum efforts were made to deter illegal migrants from the state border.
Members of the Ministry of the Interior of Republika Srpska (RS), the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies, and the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) have also been engaged to assist the GPBiH.
From the beginning of 2021 until today, the GPBiH members have deterred more than 650 people from the attempt to cross the state border illegally. Most of them are citizens of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh.
According to cases that were recorded so far, migrants have illegally tried to cross the state border on their own or with the help of smugglers and organized criminal groups for the smuggling of migrants.
“Migrants mostly move in small groups and by secondary road communications and free pedestrian movement try to cross the state border, and most often bypassing border crossings. They try to cross it by boat or by walking through the Drina River, hiding in cargo, exchanging information, giving instructions to each other for directions and routes of movement and are trying to find the easiest ways to reach the countries of the European Union (EU), ” Franka Vican, spokesperson of the BiH Border Police, said.
As she explains, the GPBiH has created and implemented several activities and measures in order to protect the state border more effectively.
“Among other things, these activities include temporary internal relocation and extraordinary engagement of police officers of the GPBiH, engagement of police officers of other police agencies to assist the GPBiH in state border surveillance activities, increased use of specialized official vehicles, drones,
About 750 migrants and refugees arrived in Una-Sana Canton (USK) in the first 15 days of March alone – it was confirmed by the Cantonal Police Administration.
“At the entrance to the canton near Bosanska Krupa, about 500 migrants were registered this month alone, while about 250 people arrived near Ključ and headed towards Bihać or Velika Kladuša. We stop them at these checkpoints, but we are aware that we cannot hermetically close the entire area, and that they find their way to their temporary destinations, “said USC police spokesman Ale Siljdedic.
In four temporary reception camps in Bihać, Cazin and Velika Kladuša, all accommodation capacities are currently filled, considering that about 2,500 people are taken care of in them.
According to the USC Ministry of the Interior, almost the same number of migrants and refugees live in city streets, public areas and abandoned buildings as in camps.
“It is evident that we are facing a new wave of migrants, which we expected with the arrival of better weather. We have to take certain actions, because a large number of people are staying in abandoned buildings and on the streets, without any control. We hope that an appropriate solution will be found for these people outside our canton, given that we cannot adequately take care of them and that it is really impossible and inadmissible to open new reception centers in this part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, “said USC Prime Minister Mustafa Ružnić.
The problem of insufficient cooperation and lack of interest of the owners of the facilities inhabited by a large number of migrants and refugees was also pointed out, with special emphasis on the insecurity and neglect of the unfinished building of the Retirement Home, ie the former Krajinametal facility in Bihać.
E.Dz.
