During a meeting with his counterparts from the Western Balkans on September 17, Serbia’s Interior Minister Ivica Dačić emphasized the country’s efforts to prevent irregular immigration as part of the so-called “Berlin Process” in Berlin. According to Dačić, Serbia experienced a 61.8 percent decline in illegal border crossings between the start of the year and September 2 in comparison with the same time the previous year. The EU member states and European institutions are praising Serbia, but migrants are still present in the region and are simply traveling in a different, considerably riskier direction.
Unauthorized border crossings decreased by 61.8 percent in Serbia during the same period previous year. According to Belgrade media reports, the drop impacted both arrivals into Serbia (63 percent) and departures from it (55.5 percent).
Ivica Dačić, the minister of interior, stated that there has been a greater effort made to combat criminal networks that profit from smuggling and human trafficking of migrants along the Balkan route. More productive cooperation with Frontex and Europol allowed for this. Furthermore, Dačić noted that Serbia has had progress in its fight against organized crime.
Germany and Serbia On The Path to Cooperation on the Matter
Outside of the regional gathering, Dačić had private discussions with German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser on enhancing their mutual cooperation in curbing undocumented immigration.
The goal of the “Berlin Process” is to facilitate the Western Balkan countries’ integration into Europe, and it was started ten years ago by then-Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Serbia in the EU’s Focus
During her visit to Serbia in March of this year, Ylva Johansson, the top security officer for the European Union, lauded the country’s handling of migration. Additionally, Serbia, a nation applying for EU membership, was congratulated by the Commissioner for Home Affairs for taking steps to harmonize its visa regulations with those of the EU.
In the wake of a shooting near the Hungary border that left three migrants dead and one injured, Serbian police reported that they had discovered approximately 3400 migrants and confiscated weapons and ammunition during a days-long crackdown on irregular migration in March 2024.
In the border region between Serbia and Hungary, a member of the European Union, there were frequent reports of gunfights and acts of violence between gangs involved in people smuggling. While seeking a route into Hungary, migrants have been sleeping nearby.
In an effort to deter illegal movement and restore security, authorities deployed hundreds of officers to the forested border zone during the summer. Aleksandar Vucic, the president of Serbia, even issued a warning that the military might be called in to handle the situation.
Serbia borders several EU members and is located at the center of the Balkan route into Europe, making its efforts particularly significant. It has played a crucial role in the migratory route via land from Turkey to Greece and Bulgaria, and subsequently to North Macedonia, Serbia, or Bosnia, in Western Europe. As inclement weather makes it impossible for migrants to make the treacherous trek across the Mediterranean Sea, crossings along the Balkan land route typically pick up steam in the fall.
Even though the decrease is incredibly comforting, it does not imply that there are no individuals attempting to reach the European Union through the Balkan route.
Bosnia: A Dangerous but Rewarding Journey.. For Now
A major obstacle on the heavily traveled Balkan route is the Drina River, which separates Bosnia and Serbia. While some locals want to help migrants whenever they can, others only see them as a way to make money. The authorities are overstretched. The river forms a large part of the border between Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The river Drina is dangerous. With tumbling currents, it’s typically over 200 meters from bank to bank. Although there are bridges, there is an excessive risk of police arrest for migrants who have entered the country illegally. Thus, they go swimming occasionally. Alternatively, they try to avoid police patrols by trying to cross in flimsy rubber vehicles in the early hours of the morning.
Numerous migrants cross into Bosnia daily along a portion of the river, according to reports from the German news portal Deutsche Welle (DW). Seldom does anyone intervene to stop them. There are not enough Bosnian border guards manning this section of the border. It would take hundreds, if not thousands, of guards to cover the whole area.
In recent years, there have been several tragedies here. The most recent occurred only a few weeks ago on August 22, when an entirely packed inflatable boat overturned in the Drina near the Serbian town of Ljubovija, resulting in the deaths of at least ten migrants.
The number of migrants at the Drina has increased significantly in recent months, according to Nihad Suljic, a Bosnian human rights activist who spoke with DW.
“When it comes to migration, Bosnia is once again the center of attention,” Suljic stated to DW. However, in contrast to the years of the pandemic and the time just before it, human traffickers now appear to have completely assimilated into the systems.
About 20 kilometers downstream from the Bosnian city of Zvornik, a local man who runs a guesthouse a short distance from the Sepak crossing on the Bosnian-Serbian border told DW that business with the refugees is booming and that everyone in the area is aware of how interconnected everything is.
Taxi drivers, according to him, wait directly outside his guesthouse and haggle over prices with newly arrived migrants.
In response to a question from DW, the Bosnian and Herzegovina border police stated that more police officers and members of the special security forces have been deployed, and that the force is keeping a closer eye on the border. Stopping irregular migration is their goal.
