German delegation offers help to Bosnia in dealing with migrants

Ministarstvo za ljudska prava i izbjeglice BiH

The German government is ready to intensify its cooperation with Bosnia's Border Police so it would improve the control over Bosnia's borders and try to reduce the influx of migrants, German high-delegation appointed by Chancellor Angela Merkel told the Bosnian delegation consisting of representatives from the Refugee Ministry and the Ministry of Security, on Tuesday.

Germany aims to establish control over the migrant situation and to try to regulate and reduce illegal migrations, Stephan Mayer, Parliamentary Secretary of State from the Ministry of the Interior and Member of the Bundestag said. In that sense, he said that in addition to the EU Commission's aid, the German government is ready to intensify the bilateral cooperation and support to Bosnia's Border Police in securing the border.

The German government's leading principle, he said, is to treat migrants humanely, regardless of their status.

Both delegations welcomed the Federation entity's decision to provide two new locations for the migrant accommodation, namely the one in Blazuj, near Sarajevo, and the other in Ljubace, near the central-Bosnian town of Tuzla.

The German delegation asked for the information on the equipment needed for the new locations so that the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) could respond on how it can contribute to creating humane conditions for migrant accommodation, as soon as possible.

The head of Foreigners’ Affairs Agency Slobodan Ujic noted that Bosnia did a lot on registering and taking biometric data from migrants adding that the Agency and the Border Police did not get additional funds for their work.

According to him, over 52,000 migrants stayed in Bosnia over the last two years, and more than 20 of them were declared a threat to Bosnia's national security. They were all returned to their countries of origin, thus improving the security of Bosnia and the EU.

The German delegation was led by Stephen Mayer and it consisted of Bundestag member and Former Federal Minister Christian Schmidt, Former Federal Minister and Former High Representative of the International Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina Christian Schwarz-Schilling, head of the Migration and Refugee Policy Division Britta Behrendt, President of the Technisches Hilfswerk – THW, lbrecht Broemme.