Western Balkan workers are critical to some German industries, but a migration scheme may be greatly reduced. The CDU party wants to starkly reduce the number of Western Balkan workers coming to Germany.
InfoMigrants spoke to Shâyân*, an Iranian engineer who lives with his family in a migrant camp near Bihac in Bosnia. Although the rest of Bosnia is no longer under lockdown, the migrant camp remains in quarantine after a doctor at the camp tested positive for the coronavirus.
The number of migrants seeking to enter the EU tripled in May compared to the previous month. It's a sign traffic along Europe's migration routes is picking up again after a lull brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Human rights organization Amnesty International is accusing the Croatian border police of an unprecedented degree of brutality in their treatment of migrants. The NGO referred to personal accounts of six Pakistanis and Afghans as well as statements by attending physicians.
In recent months there have been increasing reports, from humanitarian organizations and migrants themselves, about the mistreatment of migrants and refugees in Bosnia and Croatia. Now organizations like CARE International are calling on the international community to act.
Arshid*, 28, left his native Iran, where he was forced to hide his homosexuality. He continues to do so in Bosnia’s Bira camp, where he has been stuck for nine months. The coronavirus pandemic has made it even more difficult to reach Europe, but he’s not giving up hope of reaching a country where he can finally "be himself".
Bosnian authorities on Wednesday said they arrested eight people suspected of migrant trafficking and prevented the smuggling of 45 migrants into the European Union.
At the weekend, a Kurdish man in his fifties from the region of Erbil died in a hospital in Bosnia. He leaves behind a wife and four children who hope to seek asylum in Europe. His death comes a month after a fight at a migrant camp, during which he was "critically injured." Was his death a tragic accident or the result of something more sinister?
Two refugee footballers met for a friendly match last weekend - played on a video game. Alphonso Davies, who plays for FC Bayern-Munich, and Asmir Begovic from AC Milan held the virtual match to raise funds for UNHCR.
Bosnian authorities on April 22 inaugurated a new hosting center for migrants that can accommodate up to 1,000 people. The facility will be managed by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in the village of Lipa, near Bihac, at the border with Croatia.
As the COVID-19 outbreak continues, the security minister of Bosnia-Herzegovina suggested that migrants should be deported from the country. He alleged that refugees and migrants posed an economic burden amid the pandemic — as well as a security threat. The mood against migrants in Bosnia is beginning to turn sour.
Bosnian authorities have begun to move hundreds of migrants from the border town of Bihac, transferring them into a nearby emergency tent camp, set up amid the coronavirus pandemic. The measures came in one day after local authorities on Monday cut off water supply to the Vucjak migrant camp in Bihac to put pressure on the government and NGOs to act quickly.