ZAGREB, August 31, 2019 - The driver, a 45-year-old Serbian national suspected of causing an accident in which a female migrant lost her life when he left his van while it was sinking, was on Saturday remanded in custody after he was arrested at the Bajakovo border crossing on late Friday.

The suspect was admitted to prison in Sisak, local police reported today.

The fugitive was apprehended in a bus at Bajakovo while he was trying to cross from Croatia into Serbia.

The suspect was driving the van transporting 11 illegal migrants through Croatia on 25 August and in his attempt to evade a police check point on the road near Sisak, he made the van swerve, which was why it fell into the nearby river. During the tragic accident, the driver jumped out of the vehicle, and left it sinking. While trying to rescue her children when the van ran into the river, the woman drowned. The other 10 migrants, who were rescued by the police, were admitted to the Sisak hospital.

Soon after the accident three men connected with smuggling those migrants were arrested when they tried to leave Croatia by bus. When the driver jumped out of the sinking van, he ran into the mine-infested field near the site of accident at the Slatina Pokupska village. The police search for the fugitive driver lasted six days.

All the migrants who were rescued from the sinking van have applied for asylum in Croatia.

A police investigation int the case is under way.

More news about migrant crisis can be found in the Politics section.

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.

ZAGREB, August 25, 2019 - A van with German licence plates that was transporting illegal migrants swerved into 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, and a woman lost her life in that accident, the Croatian police reported on Sunday.

While evading the police checkpoint, the driver jumped out of the vehicle and fled towards mine-suspected area and the vehicle fell into the river. The police smashed the windows of the van and rescued 11 people.

However, one of those rescued migrants, a female migrant, who was receiving medical aid died at the scene.

An investigation is under way and the police are searching for the fleeing driver.

More news about migrant crisis can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, August 25, 2019 - Croatian Interior Minister Davor Božinović said on Saturday that a joint European solution was the best response to the issue of illegal migrants, after Slovenia decided to continue putting up fencing along its border with Croatia.

Asked by the press about Slovenia's decision on setting up an additional 4-kilometre fence in a bid to counter a rise in illegal border crossings, Božinović said that obviously countries differently responded to the influx of irregular migrants, and the best way would be to act jointly in compliance with the European solution.

Božinović said that Croatia's well-trained and well-equipped law enforcement officers can cope with the pressure of illegal border crossings. What the Slovenians are doing, is their own decision, he added.

In an effort to protect itself from an influx of migrants Slovenia has begun to erect additional fencing along the border with Croatia in those sections where migrant entries have increased. Recently Slovenia media have reported that an additional 4 kilometres of panel fencing will be erected over the next few weeks due to the increased number of illegal crossings, adding that the areas along the Kupa river between Vinica and Žunica will then be thus entirely protected.

There are currently 179 kilometres of "temporary technical barriers," along the border with Croatia, 116 kilometres of which is barbed wire fencing and 63 kilometres of panel fencing.

Slovenia's authorities said a few days ago that as many as 1,740 crossings of illegal migrants had been registered in July alone, which is record high monthly number since the migrations tide in 2015-2016.

A majority of those irregular migrants have come from Pakistan, Algeria and Afghanistan.

In the first seven months, the Slovenian police registered 7,415 arrivals of irregular migrants, and they conducted readmission for 4908 migrants to neighbouring countries. Also, 416 illegal migrants were readmitted to Slovenia.

More news about migrant crisis can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, August 22, 2019 - In an effort to protect itself from an influx of migrants Slovenia has begun to erect additional fencing along the border with Croatia in those sections where migrant entries have increased, Slovenia media reported on Thursday.

Quoting its sources, POP-TV on Wednesday evening reported that an additional 4 kilometres of panel fencing would be erected over the next few weeks due to the increased number of illegal crossings, adding that the areas along the Kupa river between Vinica and Zunica would then be entirely protected.

The Interior Ministry has said that additional technical barriers are being put up in those areas where it is essential to prevent illegal migrants.

"Where the barriers will be put up exactly and to what extent will be decided based on concrete evaluations and recommendations by the police," the ministry said in a statement to the press.

Slovenia first put up technical barriers to stop migrants during the height of the migrant crisis in 2015 to 2016 and continued to erect an additional 40 kilometres during the summer months of this year.

There are currently 179 kilometres of "temporary technical barriers," along the border with Croatia, 116 kilometres of which is barbed wire fencing and 63 kilometres of panel fencing, the ministry confirmed.

More news about relations between Croatia and Slovenia can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, August 22, 2019 - A seventh group of Syrian migrants from Turkey arrived in Zagreb on Wednesday as part of the European resettlement programme, the Interior Ministry has reported.

Eight families or 41 Syrian nationals, including 24 minors arrived on Wednesday while another two families or 7 people of whom 3 are minors are expected to arrive at the end of August.

With the latest group of migrants, Croatia will have resettled a total of 250 Syrian nationals and will have met its obligations defined in government decisions adopted in 2915 and 2017.

The refugees will spend the next few weeks in the migrant reception centre in Kutina while approval for international protection is processed.

They will have an opportunity to attend integration activities which include informing them of their rights and obligations as well as learning about the customs and culture in Croatia and attending Croatian language classes.

More news about migrant crisis can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, August 19, 2019 - Since the start of this year until mid-August, Bosnian police have prevented more than 7,000 illegal migrants from entering the country. However, despite all their efforts a lot of migrants have managed to cross the border which is the result of the chronic shortage of police personnel to control the border, Bosnia and Herzegovina's border police chief Zoran Galić said on Monday as carried by the Banja Luka-based Nezavisne Novine daily.

Precise data indicates that by 12 August, 7,650 illegal migrants were prevented from entering the country however thousands have managed to do so.

"The majority of illegal migrants come from Pakistan, Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan," Galić said. Continuous pressure exists from the direction of Serbia and Montenegro toward the eastern and northeastern sections of Bosnia and Herzegovina's border. At the same time the situation is quite complex on the border leading out of Bosnia and Herzegovina, particularly in the Krajina region, added Galić.

He assessed that a cooperation agreement between border police in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia was being implemented well. He also added that no incidents had been recorded on the border between the two countries when 18 injured migrants were recently discovered, who claimed that Croatian police had used force to push them back into Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Galić said that the problems within Bosnia and Herzegovina could be resolved and that the country's border police required urgent financial support to procure sophisticated special equipment and in personnel from other police units in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

He explained that the border police are short of 375 officers for regular tasks, however, in order to efficiently protect the borders with Serbia and Montenegro, which stretch for 600 kilometres, it needs at least an additional 1,000 police officers.

More news about migrant crisis can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, August 10, 2019 - The Štajerska Guard, known as an anti-migrant paramilitary group in Slovenia led by a far-right politician, Andrej Šiško, has set up a camp near the town of Podčetrtak some 20 kilometres of the Slovenia-Croatia border, the Zagreb-based Jutarnji List daily reported on Saturday.

The photographs of about 30 uniformed men, some of whom are masked, and of tents and weapons' replicas, which were published by the Ljubljana-based Delo newspaper, have caused alarm among Slovenian politicians and in the local society.

The Croatian newspaper carries a statement of a Slovenian police official who has said that forming such camps is unacceptable. On the other hand, the Slovenian Prime Minister Marijan Šarec has reassured the public by saying that Slovenia is a safe country.

Šiško was quoted as saying that this was not a paramilitary unit, insisting that those men are just camping and exercising in the rural area of Kozja outside the town of Podčetrtak.

The camp has been organised on private grounds and the local police authorities have granted Šiško's request to hold a gathering there.

The Štajerska Guard, which was registered as an organisation in 2017, is believed to have over 100 members.

Upon the establishment of the guard Šiško said that he would not allow the German scenario to happen in Slovenia, alluding to the influx of immigrants.

The Croatia daily says that upon such statements and the organisation of the guard Šiško had been sentenced to eight months and had served six after which he was released.

More news about relations between Croatia and Slovenia can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, August 8, 2019 - The Croatian Ministry of the Interior said on Wednesday that 18 migrants moving in separate groups were found in the area of Buhača near the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina as they were attempting to cross the border into Croatia, and that Croatian police prevented them from doing so without using force.

"According to information collected so far, during the deterrence procedure, police officers did not use means of coercion against the persons caught while trying to illegally cross the state border. There were no visible injuries on the persons concerned nor did any of them seek medical assistance and the border police of Bosnia and Herzegovina did not report any alleged injuries to us either," said the ministry.

The ministry said the allegations of injuries and use of force would be checked as in all previous cases.

Quoting hospital and police sources, Bosnian media said earlier in the day that 18 illegal migrants were injured under as yet unclear circumstances in the area of Velika Kladuša and that prosecutorial authorities had launched an investigation into the case.

Bosnian border police spokeswoman Sanela Dujković confirmed that border police found the 18 injured migrants in the area close to the border with Croatia but she could not say what exactly had happened.

The spokesman for the police of the northwestern Bosnian Una-Sana Canton, Ale Šiljdedić, said that cantonal police did not intervene in the case but were informed that a larger group of migrants had sought medical assistance in a clinic in Velika Kladuša.

Officials at the Velika Kladuša clinic confirmed having admitted six migrants with serious injuries, saying the other 12 had light injuries.

More news about migrant crisis can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, August 7, 2019 - The group of migrants discovered by Bosnia and Herzegovina police in the area of the northwestern town of Velika Kladuša in the night between Tuesday and Wednesday are victims of brutality by the Croatian border police who caught them as they were trying to illegally cross the border into Croatia, beat them up and returned them forcibly to Bosnia and Herzegovina, local media reported on Wednesday without providing any evidence or official statements for their claims.

Quoting unnamed sources, the Klix web portal claims that the migrants were illegally transferred back to Bosnia and Herzegovina by members of Croatian border police forces, who left after being spotted by the Bosnian border police.

"This is the first concrete case that confirms allegations by Bosnia and Herzegovina officials about the neighbouring country violating Bosnia and Herzegovina's sovereignty with incursions of its police into the territory under Bosnia and Herzegovina's control," the portal reported.

The coordinator for assistance to migrants in Velika Kladuša, Jasmin Čehić, earlier told the Oslobodjenje daily that the migrants were given medical assistance in the local clinic where they had been brought by the border police.

A total of 18 migrants were admitted to the clinic and six of them had serious injuries, mostly bone fractures, while the others had light injuries.

"They said that they had already crossed over to Croatia at an unknown part of the border, when they were discovered by Croatian police who allegedly beat them up, took their money and mobile phones and then transferred them back to Bosnia and Herzegovina's territory," Čehić said.

Bosnian border police have not confirmed any of the allegations, saying that they were still gathering information to help establish what exactly had happened with the migrants found near Velika Kladuša.

More news about migrant crisis can be found in the Politics section.