A latest report from the Mixed Migration Center (MMC) provides a comprehensive picture of the current situation on migration routes inside the Western Balkan, with particular emphasis on the role of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a transit corridor.
The research is based on 888 interviews conducted with refugees and migrants in Sarajevo from November 2025 to February 2026. The study also included 13 key informant interviews and two focus group discussions.
The report identifies three main routes in the region: the Bulgarian route, the North Macedonian route, and the Adriatic route. The data reveals severe violence and abuse committed by smugglers, gangs, security forces, and other travelers.
Key Findings
According to MMC, the Bulgarian route, which starts from Turkey and passes through Bulgaria, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, represents the most dangerous crossing on the Western Balkans.
Violence and abuse were experienced by more than 60 percent of the interviewees who reported various forms of mistreatment. Smugglers demanded higher fees than expected, creating exploitation issues for migrants.
Some 13,568 pushbacks from Bulgaria were recorded in 2025, preventing due process, causing harm, and exposing people to further harm. Numerous respondents talked about police violence at the border.
“In my case, the smugglers were working together with the Bulgarian police in what migrants call the »police game«. After we crossed the border, the police were already waiting and arrested us. We were taken to a closed camp where our biometrics were taken by force,” a 25-year-old man from Afghanistan stated to MMC.
Bulgaria is followed by Turkey and Serbia in terms of how dangerous the crossing is.
Meanwhile, Bosnia was scarcely reported as dangerous – only 37 respondents. The key informants also reported that conditions in Bosnia were comparatively safe.
However, key informants repeatedly referred to violent pushbacks (1,017 were recorded in 2025) by Croatian security forces into Bosnia.
People are leaving countries of crisis or conflict (e.g. Afghanistan, Sudan, Syria) for economic as well as safety-related reasons: over half of them had left for more than one reason, and economic factors are the most frequent reasons for leaving.
The Distribution of the Main Nationalities and How they Reach the Balkans?
The top three nationalities, who are using the three main routes: the Afghans, the Moroccans, and the Algerians. A large share of Algerian respondents took the North Macedonian route, which starts from Greece, passes through North Macedonia, then Kosovo and Serbia. Sudanese migrants mainly use the Adriatic route from Greece into Albania and then to Montenegro. The above-mentioned Bulgarian route is used a larger proportion of Afghans and Moroccans. Almost all respondents were men; only two percent were women.
The analysis showed that depending on the route of arrival into the area different dynamics in case of smuggling are revealed. Unsurprisingly fewer respondents who flew into the Balkans or to Turkey used a smuggler, particularly those flying to Turkey.
At the same time, over one third of people flying to the Balkans had used one smuggler for the entire journey (37 percent), seemingly indicating some kind of smuggling package.
The least expensive journey was among those who had travelled by plane to Türkiye before reaching Sarajevo, with a mean average of €3,774. This is also the route where smuggler use is the lowest. While the most expensive journey was the land route to Türkiye and then Sarajevo, costing an average of €8,860.
A greater dependence on smugglers also appears on the land journey to Turkey and onward: 43 percent used one smuggler and another 38 percent used several smugglers.
Further Implications
The region suffers from a lack of stability and geopolitical disturbances. Bosnia and Herzegovina, itself a country that emerged from war and has limited resources, plays a key role in this transit route but lacks the capacity to manage the regional crisis alone.
Local community groups, including individuals like Asim Latic, provide humanitarian assistance to those in need. Winter months can particularly worsen the situation, especially in border settlements.
The paper also underlines the risks that a reduction in assistance in states in the Western Balkans poses for refugees’ and migrants’ survival and well-being.
The evidence presented here indicates that measures to combat smuggling and irregular migration in and across the region will have to be nuanced in order to successfully tackle the multiplicity of routes and smuggling dynamics.
