Border Police Officers Outraged by BiH Border Police Management: Galić More Concerned with Protecting Croatia than BiH's Border

By: Amra Varatanović

Bosnia and Herzegovina has been facing a migrant crisis for two years, with the greatest burden falling on border police officers at the eastern border with Serbia and Montenegro, where the influx of migrants is highest. To protect the eastern border, the leadership of the Border Police decided to deploy its officers on secondment to Bijeljina, Zvornik, Trebinje, and other units.

Until last year, border police officers were rotated every three months to evenly distribute the burden of the migrant crisis among all members of the BiH Border Police. Then, the management, led by Director Zoran Galić, decided to send officers whose place of residence is 80 km away on secondment for an indefinite period.

In a letter sent to the Patria News Agency, which could also be called an appeal, it is stated that this decision places the burden of the migrant crisis on only 20% of police officers. They claim they have been on secondment for over a year without replacement or rotation, exhausted and demoralized for further work. Although they have repeatedly submitted requests for rotation from secondments, management has ignored them.
According to the signatories of the letter, in the Northeast Field Office - Bijeljina, one group of border police officers has been on secondment for 14 months, and another for nine months. Another problem is the officers' salaries, which only cover travel expenses.

"There are no daily allowances or field supplements like those received by members of other police agencies (SIPA, DKPT, MUP RS). In addition to salary supplements, they also have rotations; they are not exhausted and have motivation to work," claim BiH Border Police employees.

An additional problem is the age of border police officers. According to employees, officers over 50 years old are sent to secondments up to 70 km away for up to a year, while younger officers work in units only 5 to 10 km from their place of residence. They claim that 40% of officers have never been on secondment. Border police officers deployed on secondment, at the end of their strength, claim that the BiH Border Police Union has not stood up for their protection.

"The union does not deal with this issue at all. Instead, it signs contracts with companies for us to buy underwear and socks on installments. The union serves the police only on paper, but in practice it serves management. Nepotism and political connections have destroyed the morale of border police officers," the appeal states.

For comparison, a border police officer has an average salary of 900 KM, while employees of other police agencies sent as assistance receive around 1,800 KM with supplements. Considering the problems in the BiH Border Police, which are most felt by the officers, it is not surprising that more than 180 people have left this police agency in the past two and a half years. Most due to retirement, but a significant number also due to poor working conditions and low salaries.

The Director of the BiH Border Police has been repeating for almost two years that they are missing several hundred officers. Until the recruitment of new officers is approved, it would be fair to treat those already in service equally, regardless of who they are, what their names are, where they come from, and how they joined the BiH Border Police.

It seems that the increased influx of migrants is not the only problem, as is often portrayed, but also the relations within the BiH Border Police, as evidenced by the employees' appeal. Although a new wave of migrants is expected in October, it is unknown whether the BiH Border Police management has prepared any operational plan for such a scenario. Instead of serious work and demands for all institutions to assist the BiH Border Police, as a serious director should do, Galić is more concerned with denying reports of armed Croatian border police officers entering BiH territory, even though the BiH Prosecutor's Office is investigating this. If nothing else, Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović is particularly grateful to him for this, as she stated that she fully trusts the BiH Border Police. And why wouldn't she, when Galić called the claims of Bihać Mayor Šuhret Fazlić and the BiH Security Minister about violations of territorial sovereignty by Croatian border guards fabrications based on migrants' statements, adding that there were no incidents with the Croatian MUP.

We have yet to receive management's stance on all these issues within the BiH Border Police, nor an answer from the BiH Prosecutor's Office on whether or not there was an incident with Croatian border guards in Velika Kladuša on August 7, which was reported by the BiH Border Police.