Bosnian authorities arrest Afghan migrants suspected of links to terrorism and people smuggling

The Bosnian service for foreign affairs said on 19 February that since the beginning of 2019, six Afghan migrants have been detained on suspicion of links to global terrorism, people smuggling and organised crime, Reuters reported.

According to a statement, the migrants will be expelled from Bosnia as they are considered to pose “a threat to public order and security.

In 2018, more than 25,000 migrants and refugees mainly from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and Iran entered Bosnian territory in an attempt to make it to wealthier western and northern European countries. However, the closed borders of Hungary and Slovenia have stranded many migrants for extended periods in Bosnia.

“We are checking their entire route … they entered Bosnia illegally,” Interior minister Dragan Mektic said.

Migrants in Bosnia try to find a way into Croatia in order to continue their journey. As a result, Croatian police have applied strict border controls and are preventing any illegal entrance from Bosnia.

Using the threat of terrorism to EU security, other countries such as Hungary have passed laws and placed strong restrictions on migrants trying to enter or pass through the country.

On the same day, police stopped a truck hiding irregular migrants with Slovenian license plates near Gracac, close to the Adriatic Sea coast. Two suspected people smugglers were detained at the scene.

TMP – 27/02/2019

Photo credit: Ajdin Kamber/Shutterstock

Photo caption: Refugee and migrant camp in Bosnia and Herzegovina near Croatian border. Velika Kladusa. Tents and people in Syrian refugee camp. European migrants crisis. Balkan Route. Migrants from Syria, Pakistan – Image