Bosnia’s law enforcement agencies have increased control on the eastern state border to prevent illegal migrations from neighbourly countries, Bosnian Border Police said on Friday.

From now on the area around the eastern Bosnian towns of Zvornik, Bratunac, Srebrenica, Visegrad, Rudo, Cajnice and Foca will also be monitored by officers of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) and the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies.

“Deployment of the police officers to the eastern part of Bosnia’s border is the first form of support of the bodies in charge to the demands of the Border Police sent several times due to the growing migration pressure, lack of 526 police officers and the fact that six-month extraordinary and increased measures on borders almost exhausted the human and material-technical resources of this agency,” said the Border Police.

The agency took measures against more than 4,000 persons coming from countries of the high migration risk since the beginning of the year, preventing them from illegal entry to Bosnia and returning them to the territories of Serbia and Montenegro.

Chairman of Bosnia’s Council of Ministers Denis Zvizdic announced on Thursday he would send diplomatic notes to Serbia and Montenegro, familiarizing them with the fact that Bosnian authorities knew the migrants were being sent to Bosnia “institutionally and via criminal groups.”