My job is to eliminate and return the migrants to their countries of origin and not encourage them from disrupting the lives of the local population, Bosnia's Security Minister Fahrudin Radoncic said Saturday after meeting with Tuzla Mayor Jasmin Imamovic on the growing issue of migrants in this central-Bosnian city.

Asked about visiting some of the migrant gathering places in this city, Radoncic said the idea did not even cross his mind as it would only encourage “the illegal migrants who came to our country without any documents and with no intention of introducing themselves, to continue to do so.”

“Imagine a situation where US President Donald Trump would meet with the people jumping over their wall. The only thing I can say that I expect is that our police structures will resolve this issue together with the Foreigners Affairs Service of Bosnia and Herzegovina, very quickly,” the Security Minister said.

After the meeting, the two concluded that Bosnia cannot be a migrant hub and that the country must send a discouraging message to the migrants.

Minister Radoncic said he opposes the construction of migrant facilities and that the EU must show more solidarity with Bosnia when it comes to this issue. He noted that Bosnia must also strengthen its border capacities for the purpose of which Tuzla will provide some €60,000 from its budget.

In the past two years, over 56,000 migrants entered the country, with over 3,500 migrants who came in this year alone.

However, some 12 percent of them never get registered. On average, some 100 migrants enter Bosnia daily, 80 percent of whom head towards Tuzla. The Ministry estimates that between 700 and 800 illegal migrants are residing in tuzla right now.