Dragan Lukac, Interior Minister of the Serbian-majority part of Bosnia and Herzegovina (also known as Republika Srpska) said that he would not allow for migrant reception centers to be set up in his territory after growing calls to redistribute migrants within Bosnia.
A person claiming to be a Croatian policeman has sent an anonymous letter claiming that they receive orders to confiscate migrants' money and destroy their cell phones.
Croatia has consistently denied illegally deporting refugees to neighboring Bosnia-Herzegovina. But in a recent TV interview, the Croatian president admitted border guards were forcing migrants back over the border.
Controversy has erupted in Bosnia over a government proposal to deploy military units to the borders with Serbia and Montenegro, in order to physically block migrants from illegally crossing and entering the country.
Within eyeshot of the Bosnian-Croatian border, thousands of refugees are camping in squalor on a former garbage site. Their supplies are scarce. Photographer Dirk Planert was among them.
Over 10,000 migrants and refugees are in Bosnia now, of whom only 160 have requested asylum according to government figures.
Officials near Bosnia's border with Croatia feel abandoned by the federal government and the international community. With shelters bursting at the seams with people trapped in limbo, they're taking drastic measures.
Refugees and migrants attempting to make it to the European Union via Bosnia have been stuck in a bottleneck. The country's economy is weak, unemployment high, and the government is struggling to address the alleged pushbacks by Croatian police. Amidst simmering tensions, authorities ordered the establishment of a new refugee center in Vucjak.
Groups of migrants in Bosnia were blocked by authorities in the attempt to return to Bihac near the border with Croatia after being transferred to the area of Vucijak where authorities plan to set up a large hosting center.
Hundreds of Bosnians took to the streets Sunday to protest against potential security and health risks posed by migrants sleeping rough in the western town of Bihac. While Bosnia was mostly spared from the migrant crisis of 2015, locals are not happy that they must care for migrants now.
A total of 9,081 migrants have irregularly entered Bosnia since the start of the year, according to news agency FENA.
A 21-year-old Afghan was killed in a migrant feud on Wednesday night in Belgrade center. A second Afghan national was stabbed the following day in a nearby refugee camp.