More Illegal Migrants Are Crossing Montenegro

A Montenegrin police report said immigrants from Pakistan, Algeria, Morocco, Afghanistan, Syria, Tunisia, and especially people of Kurdish origin, are illegaly transiting Montenegro, mainly to Serbia, where they continue to Western countries.

The report on organised crime threats in the country, released on Monday, said the organisers of transfers towards Serbia are local citizens working together with migrants originating from the same countries, who have already obtained asylum or who are using temporary residence status in Montenegro.

Police data show that Turkish and Montenegrin citizens involved in smuggling migrants through Montenegro seek a price of 3,500 to 4,000 euros per person.  

The local associates, mainly transporters and taxi drivers, transfer the migrants through Montenegro on the route running from Istanbul to Italy or Austria. 

"Given the method of work of Turkish smugglers, there is a real threat that in the following period they will try to use the Montenegrin coast for boarding and transfer of migrants by smaller boats to Italy," the police report said.

Illegal migration in Montenegro still has a "transit character", the report said, and there are no registered organized crime groups in Montenegro, but "temporarily affiliated individuals".

Migrants enter Montenegro on foot in 85 per cent of the registered cases - via mountain roads and trails to the first inhabited settlement.

A major problem for Montenegro in the years to come will be abuse of the asylum system and "false" asylum seekers. Under EU legislation, Montenegro will have to accept back all those persons who once sought asylum in Montenegro.

The Directorate for Asylum's data for the period from 2011 to 2013...