Migrants Still Trekking Into Croatia Despite Winter Cold

Undeterred by the freezing weather, migrants and refugees are still attempting to cross over from Bosnia and Herzegovina to EU-member Croatia.

A representative of the International Organization for Migration, IOM, Peter Van der Auweraert, told BIRN that the rate of border crossings was slightly lower now - but that people were still trying to cross the Bosnia-Croatia border every day.

Croatian police on Wednesday said they rescued 15 migrants, including six children, who got stuck on Mt Pljesevica in Croatia, on the border with Bosnia, in deep snow and low temperatures. They were taken to a Croatian hospital.

Van der Auweraert said many migrants with families now preferred to remain in some of the facilities run by the IOM in Bosnia.

"Most of the families, I think, decided to sit out the winter in Bosnia and Herzegovina - that's the information that we have in the facilities that we run for families in Bira and Borici [in Bihac], though young males are continuing to cross over," he said.

Van der Auweraert said the IOM was trying to make them more aware of the dangers of the crossing the border, but many people were very determined to reach Croatia.

"One of the challenges for the rescue service, although they are doing an excellent job, is the very practical issue - when you get into the mountains usually the phone network switches from the Bosnian to the Croatian network - and most of the migrants are using prepaid cards and don't have enough credit to do roaming... It is very difficult to find these people," he said.

No Name Kitchen, NNK, an NGO that helps migrants and refugees, mostly in Velika Kladusa, in northwest Bosnia, told BIRN that while a number of people appear content to "wait out the winter" in Bosnia, groups...