Franka Vican

The UN Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Monday condemned the Croatian police's allegedly violent pushback of a group of migrants trying to cross the border into the European Union country.

In an operation codenamed "Lipa", executed on the orders of the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Bosnian Border Police, together with partner police and security agencies,  on Wednesday arrested members of an organised crime group suspected of smuggling hundreds of illegal migrants from Bosnia to EU member Croatia.

Bosnian officials fear the crisis on the Greek-Turkish border could create more problems for the country, which is already struggling to handle growing numbers of migrants.

A shortage of border guards may be hampering Bosnia's ability to stop migrants from illegally entering the country, officials say.

The rulebook on its internal organisation says the Border Police of Bosnia and Herzegovina should have 2,426 officers, but currently has only 2,038, which is 388 less, Franka Vican, a spokeswoman for the state border police, told BIRN.