Bosnian Border Police have dispersed some 200 migrants away from the Maljevac border crossing who attempted to cross the border and enter the Republic of Croatia on Tuesday afternoon.
According to N1’s Aida Hadzimusic, three persons were injured, and an ambulance vehicle was present on the scene.
Earlier on Tuesday, some 200 migrants came to the Maljevac border crossing in the north-west of Bosnia, insisting that the border be open so they could continue their journey to the European Union countries.
The migrants’ push to cross the border led to a clash with the police, but they still remained on the Bosnian side of the border. Disgruntled, they refused to leave the area lighting campfires and setting up their tents in an attempt to spend the night there and yelling “border, border.”
A group of some 200 migrants travelling by public train and buses was also returned by the police from Bihac, a north-western town of Bosnia and Herzegovina, back to the country’s capital where they came from.
The towns of Bihac and Velika Kladusa, closest to the border with Croatia, are situated in the Una-Sana Canton, one of ten cantons of the semi-autonomous entity of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Canton has become a hub for migrants attempting to enter Croatia and thus the EU, in their attempt to reach the west European countries.
However, Bosnian and Croatian border police have successfully prevented the migrants from crossing the border.
The migrants who were returned from Bihac have also arrived at the barracks near Sarajevo, which were turned into a migrant reception centre.
According to N1’s Esmir Milavic, the first bus was accompanied by several police cars.
Bosnian Security Minister Dragan Mektic said in September that some 15,000 migrants entered Bosnia since the beginning of this year and that a vast majority of them had left the country. According to Bihac local officials, however, there are some 10,000 migrants still in the canton.
Bosnia and Herzegovina has become an important transit point for all the migrants trying to enter the EU, after Hungary had imposed strict measures against illegal migration.
