The body of a Turkish citizen was discovered at the river Glina in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina. The citizen had been missing for days and it was sadly already suspected the Turkish migrant drowned after becoming separated from a group they were travelling with.
Seven Turkish migrants had attempted to illegally cross the border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia on the Glina River during the night of Thursday 11 February 2021 and the morning of Friday 12 February 2021. They believed the water level in the area was low. Alongside extremely cold temperatures, the nighttime darkness they used as a cover for the illegal border crossing attempt, must have made the journey treacherous. The tragic result is that one Turkish migrant drowned.
According to Svevlad Hoffman, advisor to the director of the BiH Border Police, six migrants were saved from drowning at the time of the crossing, but one of the group disappeared. This Turkish migrant drowned.
“It was suspected that there was a drowning, which was unfortunately confirmed today,” Hoffman said. He explained that the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia, whose members had found the Turkish migrant drowned, had informed them about the discovery of the body. Police from Bosnia and Herzegovina had informed Croatian counterparts about the situation at the time of the migrant’s disappearance.
Investigation of the case was taken over by the State Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and six Turkish citizens were handed over to the jurisdiction of the Service for Foreigners Affairs of BiH.
The river Glina, where the Turkish migrant drowned, forms a natural border between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. On the Croatian side of the border lie Karlovac County and Sisak-Moslavina County. On the Bosnian side of the border, many large camps have sprung up containing migrants who wish to attempt an illegal crossing into Croatia. Croatia is rarely their intended destination. Most are hoping to travel further west into the European Union.
The crossing where the Turkish migrant drowned is not the only border through which migrants try to enter. On Friday 12 February 2021, Osijek-Baranja police rescued a Syrian migrant family from inaccessible Slavonia wetlands. They had become cut off on an island and surrounded by swollen waters in the area around Kopacki rit Nature Park after crossing the border from Serbia.
