You're reading: Reuters: Bosnian border town dwellers help migrants but worry about security

Reuters: Bosnian border town dwellers help migrants but worry about security

Published May 23, 2018 at 5:06 pm

Bosnian Muslim, Emir Mustedanagic (46) (2nd R) poses with migrants in front of his house in the north-western Bosnian town of Velika Kladusa on May 10, 2018. Mustedanagic volontarily shares his own home with 3 migrants famillies. Velika Kladusa, a Bosnian town on the Bosnia - Croatia border is a gathering point for the migrants before their attempts to illegaly enter EU. Until recently, Bosnia and its mountainous terrain were avoided by migrants travelling from northern Africa, Middle East or Asia, who, despite the closure of EU borders in March 2016, continued to pass through the Balkans. But, since late 2017 Bosnia is facing the passage of hundreds of migrants, becoming a leg of a new "Balkans route."

Photo by AFP

Thousands of refugees and migrants have crossed this year into EU member Croatia from Bosnia on their way to Europe’s richer countries but many are stuck in border towns, where locals say they can no longer cope and worry about security.

“It began spontaneously, us feeding them. All of a sudden there were 500 of them,” said Rasim Pajezetovic, a businessman in the town of Velika Kladusa who has been voluntarily feeding migrants for more than three months.