ZAGREB, 21 Feb (Hina) -В Illegal migrants trying to reach the European Union through Bosnia and Herzegovina have started resorting to violent border crossings to Croatia, where they enter in motor vehicles at full speed through the border crossings while running away from the police.
This information was confirmed by the Border Police of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Croatian Interior Ministry, with the statement that the new tactics of illegal migrants have been recorded since the beginning of this year, when around 1,600 migrants were stopped trying to cross the border illegally.
Migrants find vans and then try to speed through the roads through less busy border crossings, ignoring the police who try to stop them.
Several separate incidents of this type were recorded at the border crossings that gravitate towards Bosanska Gradiška and Una-Sana Canton in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the northwest of that country, where the highest concentration of migrants arriving via Serbia and Montenegro is registered.
The Border Police of Bosnia and Herzegovina have confirmed that the have so far arrested several persons who participated in such incidents and that they are already taking additional measures, including joint police patrols.
The BiH Border Police have a chronic shortage of men and equipment and is having a hard time dealing with the problem of illegal migration. This year, the European Union secured a donation of €6.4 million euros for the needs of that agency, and the authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina opened negotiations with the European Coast and Border Guard Agency (FRONTEX) in order to reach an agreement on the engagement of police officers from the EU for more efficient control of illegal migration.