Bosnia and Herzegovina will continue strengthening its border control with an aim to prevent illegal migrants from entering the country's borders, said an operations committee in charge of the migration issues in the country.

Bosnia's Security Minister, Dragan Mektic, who is the committee chairman, said that the amount of some 460,000 Bosnian marks (BAM) (some EUR 230,000) was earmarked in the budget reserves for the accommodation and food costs of the police officers. The Bosnia's Council of Ministers approved the amount on Wednesday, allocating the funds to the Border Police, the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies, and the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA).

The committee concluded that the pressure on the eastern Bosnia's borders is increasing but that the backup provided by other law enforcement agencies to the Border Police of Bosnia and Herzegovina already resulted in a significant number of prevented illegal migrants’ entries.

The works on reconstruction of the facilities in Bihac and Usivak, near Sarajevo, to accommodate migrants will start the next week, the committee said, adding that a hotel in the western municipality of Cazin will be adjusted for 50 more migrants besides 150 more who are already staying there.

The committee also approved the formation of a temporary reception centre in the facilities of Agrokomerc company, in the western municipality of Velika Kladusa. Minister Mektic announced he would visit the town the next week to discuss the technical details with the municipal authorities.

According to the state institutions, some 10,000 migrants entered the country through its eastern borders, finding a temporary shelter here on the way to the final destinations in the western Europe. Although most of them expressed intention to seek the asylum in Bosnia, as a part of the regular procedure, a very few did so, and no one has been approved the asylum so far.