Currently, there are an estimated 3,500-4,000 illegal migrants in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and most of them are located close to the country's border with Croatia, said the latest report by the European Commission.

The report on the developments on the ground said that about 3,350 migrants are along the Bosnia-Croatia border, and of them, 2,500 in Bihac, 700 in Velika Kladusa and about 150 in Cazin, towns in northwestern Bosnia.

These figures differ from claims made by Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Security Minister Dragan Mektic who said on Wednesday that the number of illegal migrants in Una-Sana Canton in Bosnia and Herzegovina had decreased significantly because most of the migrants had managed to cross the border and continue their journey through Croatia to other European Union countries.

He said that currently 1,500 refugees were still stuck in Bosnia.

The EC report reads that in the first seven months of 2018, a total of 11,376 migrants were registered Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was 10 times more than in the whole of 2017.

Migrants cross into Bosnia and Herzegovina from Serbia, mainly in the area of Bijeljina, in northeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, and they continue travelling towards the Bosnia-Croatia border in the Una-Sana Canton in northwestern Bosnia.

Braving bad weather, they stay along that part of the Bosnia and refuse to relocate to accommodation centres in the central parts of the country.

A small portion of them accept their readmission to Greece after their failed attempts to pass Croatia’s border in an attempt to reach other destinations in the European Union’s member-states.

Broken down by the country of origin, a third of migrants in Bosnia and Herzegovina come from Pakistan, 15 percent of the registered migrants are Syrians, 13 percent are Iranians and 11 percent are from Afghanistan.

Also, a significant number of migrants who have reached Bihac and Velika Kladusa are nationals of Pakistan, Algeria and Morocco and only few citizens from those countries have been granted international protection, according to the report.

The EC put €6 million at the disposal of Bosnia and Herzegovina to use the funds for management of the situation involving a rising number of migrants.

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