The global migrant crisis that is affecting Bosnia can in no way be affected or reduced by Bosnia alone, Bosnia’s Security Minister Dragan Mektic told N1 commenting on the Saturday protests in Bihac against the influx of migrants to this town. He also noted that some local communities from the Bihac area are not cooperating with the Ministry.
“The town of Velika Kladusa is not cooperating with us, at all. The Mayor is refusing to speak to us and they are refusing to implement any decision we make, concerning migrant accommodation into the centres which we identified as available,” Mektic said. “They are obstructing the centres’ connection to any kind of infrastructure.”
Several thousand Bihac residents took to the streets, Saturday night, temporarily blocking the Sarajevo Bihac highway, the Bihac bus station and preventing trains from docking at the Bihac train station in order to stop the migrant influx into the city. They also briefly gathered on Sunday morning and said the protests will continue on Monday.
Speaking about the general situation in the country, he said all they can do is try to control the whole process.
“All we can do is look for solutions that would help us direct and control this process, but in order to do this, we must have a strong coordination between all levels of government. We must have a strong humanitarian and security cooperation and we must bring the migrants’ behaviour back in the legal framework,” Mektic told N1.
Another migrant centre in the former Usivak barracks near Sarajevo will also open on Wednesday and according to Mekic, Usivak will accommodate all the migrants sleeping in the open in the streets of Sarajevo, Bihac and Velika Kladusa.
“Local police forces and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) entity Interior Ministry must act more repressively towards the migrants and limit their stay to such reception centres. They can’t be allowed to sleep on the streets and parks or to violate the law and order,” Mektic added. “I know that’s a problem which requires increased police engagement but they must ensure the respect of our public and legal order.”
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In September, Mektic held a press conference saying that the exact number of migrants heading to Western European countries whose entry into Bosnia was registered was 14,969, of which 13,958 expressed an intention to seek asylum, but only 399 actually did that.
Bosnia state authorities’ attempts at refurbishing inadequate facilities where migrants are currently accommodated have been slow due to lack of funding and cooperation from local counterparts.
