According to the European Union (EU) data, the number of migrants on the Balkan route was halved in January compared to the previous month. One of the reasons is the alignment of Serbia with the visa policy of the EU, which has already been reflected in the number of migrants in BiH.
When the northwestern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) became the center of the Balkan route five years ago, most migrants came from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran. From about ten thousand of them who were present in BiH two years ago, today there are less than three thousand, according to the data of the Service for Affairs with Foreigners of BiH, which has fully taken over the jurisdiction over migrants. They were placed in camps Blazuj and Usivak in Sarajevo, and two in the Una-Sana canton (USC), Borici and Lipa. From several thousand of them who were there a few years ago, who, due to catastrophic conditions, set fire to the camp where they were staying and were then transferred by bus to Sarajevo, today there are 150 of them.
New data from the EU show that the number of migrants on the Balkan route halved in January compared to the previous month and that this is no accident. At the end of last year, after pressure from Brussels, Serbia abolished the visa-free regime for several countries from which a large number of migrants arrived via this route. Among them are Tunisia and Burundi, and further harmonization of the visa regime with EU countries is planned.
The media reports the statement of European Commissioner for Internal Affairs Ilva Johansson, who in the European Parliament confirmed the declining trend in the number of migrants in December, stating that even then the number of illegal crossings through the Balkans was reduced by 30 percent.
Obligation on everyone
As for BiH, the Ministry of Security took over the entire supervision of the issue of migrant centers together with the Service for Affairs with Foreigners two years ago. The government in the USC, which was the most affected, will not take all the burden on itself again.
“We complied with all agreements on closing ad hoc centers, such as Vucjak. We gave the location where the temporary reception center was built. But we cannot carry this burden alone. It must be evenly distributed across BiH”, says Mustafa Ruznic, USC Prime Minister in technical mandate.
As for the citizens of this canton, it seems to them that there are fewer migrants. They don’t even want to hear about a possible repetition of the situation from two years ago.
“Oh no. They are all gone. The small number that is left, it’s as if they’re not there,” says one citizen. “I do not believe that the situation of two years ago and those problems can be repeated. I see that there are almost none of them in the city,” says another. “I guess there is someone smart enough to know what to do if the number of migrants accidentally increases. But since we are short-witted, it’s difficult,” says one interlocutor.
