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.
Slovenian authorities have apprehended 39 migrants who were trying to cross the border with Croatia illegally, local police have said.
Slovenian authorities over the last few days have stopped dozens of undocumented migrants who were trying to cross the border from Croatia, police said. Most of the foreigners were Afghan citizens.
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.
Slovenian authorities are warning that they expect mass arrivals in the country over the next few months. Slovenia has already sent over 1,500 migrants back to Croatia since the start of 2019.
Slovenian police say they have prevented several attempted border crossings from Slovenia to Italy and from Croatia into Slovenia in recent days.
A report by a coalition of Croatian NGOs denounced the country's authorities continuing practice of illegal push-backs, abuse and violence against migrants at the border between Croatia and Bosnia.
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.
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.
Police in Croatia found the dead body of a migrant on February 24 after being alerted by a group of six migrants from Syria and Pakistan. The group apparently got lost while searching for a bridge over the Mreznica River. Another person from the group went missing in the river.
Bosnian authorities said migrants attempting to enter the country illegally increased by 500 percent last year, compared to 2017.