ZAGREB, August 26, 2019 – The Head of Croatia’s Border Police Directorate, Zoran Ničeno, has said that the police registered an almost 200% rise in the number of illegal border crossings in the first seven months of 2019, with statistics showing some 9,500 such cases.
In parallel, since a flow of migrants’ started passing through Bosnia and Herzegovina, there has been an increase in the rate of detected criminal offences in this segment, Ničeno told the national broadcaster HTV on Sunday evening explaining that a rise in the detected criminal offences was also a result of the better organisation of the police work, flexibility and engagement of all police sectors in efforts to curb the inflow of irregular migrants.
For instance, the police arrested 505 migrants’ smugglers in the first seven months of 2019.
Ničeno finds it disputable that Bosnia and Herzegovina’s authorities have set up an accommodation centre for passing illegal migrants intentionally at the village of Vučjak, just a few kilometres from its border with Croatia.
He underscores that Croatia’s law enforcement authorities have already seen media footage showing Bosnia’s police officers pushing 200-300 migrants in front of themselves towards the border with Croatia in that area of Vučjak.
He criticised the attempts of the Bosnian police to make irregular migrants cross into Croatia.
The Croatian official once again dismissed accusations that Croatia’s border police are pushing back migrants to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Media outlets disseminate information that illegal crossings of the border is something normal and that migrants are always right. The attention is paid only to the humanitarian aspect of this problem that is really worrisome, he added.
He explained that the police only deter the attempts of illegal crossings into Croatia’s territory.
Ničeno appealed on international and local NGOs to inform migrants that illegal entries are not permitted.
He also informed the TV audience that an investigation is under way regarding the case of a van with German licence plates that was transporting illegal migrants which swerved in the River Kupa in the village of Slatina Pokupka near the town of Glina on Sunday morning while it was trying to evade a police patrol.
A woman lost her life in that accident.
While evading a police checkpoint, the driver jumped out of the vehicle and fled towards a mine-suspected area and the vehicle fell into the river. The police smashed the windows of the van while it was afloat and rescued 11 people.
However, one of those rescued migrants, a female migrant, who was receiving medical aid, died at the scene.
The police are searching for the fleeing driver.
More news about migrant crisis can be found in the Politics section.
