Bosnia to Strengthen Border Police After Migrant Increase

The Independent Board of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an independent body in charge of Bosnia's police, called on Monday for the immediate deployment of at least 200 more officers to the border force.

The border police welcomed the move but said the force still needs more resources.

"These 200 new members will partially resolve the problem with police officers in the Border Police of Bosnia but if we want better results, we must be able to work at full capacity," border police spokesperson Sanela Dujkovic told BIRN.

"With the increased number of illegal migrants, we have been conducting stronger measures and operations within the available resources, such as detailed checks of all freight vehicles and trains arriving from Serbia and Montenegro, so this will speed up the process and strengthen our capacities," Dujkovic added.

The border police force currently has 1,847 officers but not all of them are working on securing the country's 1,551-kilometre-long border, and the force says that 500 more officers are needed.

Bosnia's Council of Ministers said on Monday that it wants to direct resources at preventing illegal migrants from coming into the country after numbers rose this year.

"The Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina expects control over the state borders with eastern neighbours Serbia and Montenegro to continue and that all state-level police capacities are involved in this operation with the aim of preventing illegal entries into the country," the Council of Ministers said in a press statement.

Bosnia's Service for Foreigners' Affairs has registered over 6,000 illegal migrants since the beginning of 2018.

Although 5,887 of them expressed their intention to seek asylum, only...