Serbian authorities reported that 600 migrants have been apprehended since the start of the year as they were attempting to illegally cross the border hidden in trucks. Meanwhile, migrants are continuing to arrive along the new Balkan route while three charred bodies were discovered in Bihac, Bosnia.
UNICEF said that in the first three months of 2019, 3,800 children arrived in Europe by sea and that one in every four migrant arrivals was a minor. In 2018, the figure was one in every five arrivals.
It has become increasingly difficult for refugees to make their way from Greece to Central Europe. Even in the face of police violence and the risk of arrest, thousands still embark on the dangerous journey.
The German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia has deported three men from Bosnia Herzegovina, who had been classified as Islamist threats.
Bulgaria's interior minister has announced that security has been tightened along the southern border of the country. Meanwhile, the Bosnian government says that if European borders remain 'hermetically closed' to migrants, Bosnia will also close its eastern and southern borders.
Authorities in three countries on the so Balkan Route have arrested the alleged members of a migrant trafficking network operating in the region. Among those arrested were two Turkish nationals.
In the past year, Bosnia has become an inevitable leg on the new migrant route passing through the Balkans. From there, the migrants hope to cross the border into Croatia, an EU member state, but are often caught by police and sent back to Bosnia. This small impoverished state, which for many was only supposed to serve as a transit point, is increasingly turning into a dead end, with some 5,000 people now finding themselves blocked at the border leading into the European Union.
Bosnian authorities have decided to tighten border control in the east of the country to halt migrant arrivals from Serbia and Montenegro, deploying more border police officers.
A rights group has accused EU governments of "fueling a growing humanitarian crisis" on the bloc's border with Bosnia. Many of the migrants stuck there face dire living conditions.
Bosnian authorities have recently prevented a number of migrants from entering the Republika Srpska, forcing them to continue their journey towards Bihac near the border with Croatia.
Bosnian Security Minister Dragan Mektic said about 70,000 migrants are ready to depart Greece for countries in western Europe. The situation concerns Bosnia because many of the migrants may attempt to reach Europe through the Balkan route.
Authorities in Bosnia said more than a thousand irregular migrants have entered the country since the start of the year. They said arrivals are expected to increase significantly in the spring.