Cikotić without a clear plan: Migrant inflow reduced due to pandemic

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Minister of Security of BiH Selmo Cikotić (SDA) responded to the question posed by MP of the House of Representatives of PS BiH Nenad Nešić at today's session on how to resolve the migrant crisis and their identification.

“In the first 8 months of this year, the inflow of migrants has decreased primarily due to the pandemic. It decreased by some 39% as 11,292 migrants were registered during this period. Most migrants come from Afghanistan, followed by Pakistan, Bangladesh, Morocco, Iraq, and on this list are also Iran, Tunisia, Algeria, and Egypt. To understand their status, out of 11,292, 10,000 expressed their intention to seek asylum. Only 185 of them actually submitted an application. Migrants are manipulating the institute of seeking asylum. BiH is not an attractive country as a final destination for migrants. The eastern border with Serbia and Montenegro is porous,” said Cikotić.

He stated that in the last few weeks, a trend of decreasing entries into BiH has been observed, and the further focus is on closing the eastern border and reducing the inflow.

“The identification of migrants remains a problem because a small number of them have some form of identification. The quality of the asylum institute needs to be further improved, and the process of prosecuting migrants needs to be regulated with the judicial system, as we have an increase in criminal offenses. About three weeks ago, the Government of Pakistan expressed its intention to sign a readmission agreement,” said Cikotić.

Nešić stated that he was not satisfied with the answer because he did not hear any measures on how the entry of migrants would be limited, and he said that cooperation with the EU should be established because this is also their problem.