Bosnia Police Search Homes for Migrants, Refugees

Police in northwest Bosnia on Monday conducted house-to-house searches for migrants and refugees after a controversial decision was made to relocate all migrants and refugees from private homes in the Bihac area to a new temporary tent centre at Vucjak, near the border with Croatia.

Police in Una Sana Canton, one out of ten administrative units in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of two entities in the country, on Monday said searches were ongoing.

"The actions are carried out mostly in Bihac, where the situation is currently the most critical, but also in Velika Kladusa. We will work every day until we somehow resolve this situation, Ale Siljdjelic, spokesperson of Una Sana Canton Police, told the Sarajevo-based news site Klix.ba

The UN country team in Bosnia on Friday said it considered the new camp accommodation completely unsuitable.

"The UN expresses serious concern with regard to this decision, as we firmly believe that this location is entirely inadequate for the purpose of accommodating people there," a press release issued on Friday noted.

The EU Delegation in Bosnia has also opposed the location of the new camp, noting that it is on the border with an EU country, and will clearly become a magnet for migrants and cause more problems, N1 reported on Wednesday.

During the police search of one house, police said they found 130 migrants and refugees, mostly elderly and without any identification documents, the TV station N1 reported.

Another 150 migrants and refugees located in private houses have also been transferred to the new tent facility at Vucjak.

Bosnia has been facing an increase in the numbers of migrants and refugees crossing the Balkan state on their way to Western Europe since the start...