Croatia sees surge in migrants while government works to curb influx

Croatia is experiencing an ‘unprecedented’ number of migrants crossing its border from neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina this summer, with the government working to combat the influx by finalising plans for a new migrant registration hub and building a large registration centre on an abandoned military training ground.

Croatia is located on the Balkan route, traversed by many migrants hailing from the Middle East and North Africa, which sees them travel from Turkey and Greece towards northwest Bosnia and Herzegovina. Once there, they tend to cross the EU’s external border into Croatia and then con the allegations.

“Last night alone, some 600 illegal migrants were apprehended while attempting to illegally enter Croatian territory – these are unprecedented figures. Everyone who does manage to enter the country has certain rights according to European law, and we respect those rights,” Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic told reporters while attending a police event near Zagreb on Thursday.

“However, we will respect their rights by making the rules ourselves. This means we will take them to migration centres in an organised manner,” Bozinovic added, Hina reported.

Croatia plans to build a large registration centre at the village of Krnjak, some 20 kilometres south of the major town of Karlovac, on the site of an abandoned military training ground.

Last week, about a hundred locals protested against the plan.

On Tuesday, Bozinovic visited the site and told reporters that the complex includes some 55 buildings suitable for housing people and that the government plans to ask the EU for funding to repurpose the site.

Bozinovic said that the number of incoming migrants this year increased by 170% and that there was a 700% increase in asylum applications in the country. However, the number of arrests of traffickers also increased, with local police reporting 850 arrests this year to date.

(David Spaic-Kovacic | EURACTIV.hr)