SARAJEVO, Aug 14 (Hina) - A Bosnian company "Air Bosna" is going to discontinue flights between Istanbul and Tuzla, owing to suspicion that this line has been established only for the transport of illegal emigrants from Turkey who are
trying to reach west Europe via Bosnia-Herzegovina. Air Bosna has decided to stop offering flights for Tuzla (in north-eastern Bosnia), a spokesman for the UN mission in Sarajevo said on Tuesday adding that the number of passengers using this service has already drastically fallen. It is clear that Tuzla is not any kind of tourist destination, spokesman Stefo Lehman said referring to the third largest Bosnian city known for heavy industry, salt works and nearby collieries. During the latest flight, there have been only 39 passengers on board Air Bosna plane flying from Istanbul via Tuzla to Sarajevo, only seven of them have been Turkish nationals. This cut in
SARAJEVO, Aug 14 (Hina) - A Bosnian company "Air Bosna" is going to
discontinue flights between Istanbul and Tuzla, owing to suspicion
that this line has been established only for the transport of
illegal emigrants from Turkey who are trying to reach west Europe
via Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Air Bosna has decided to stop offering flights for Tuzla (in north-
eastern Bosnia), a spokesman for the UN mission in Sarajevo said on
Tuesday adding that the number of passengers using this service has
already drastically fallen.
It is clear that Tuzla is not any kind of tourist destination,
spokesman Stefo Lehman said referring to the third largest Bosnian
city known for heavy industry, salt works and nearby collieries.
During the latest flight, there have been only 39 passengers on
board Air Bosna plane flying from Istanbul via Tuzla to Sarajevo,
only seven of them have been Turkish nationals. This cut in the
number of passengers ensued after the stepped-up control in the
airport in this Turkish city.
The UN mission in Bosnia has recently accused 'Air Bosna' of
transporting illegal migrants as this company applies no criteria
when it allows all kinds of passengers to board its planes flying
from Istanbul to Bosnia. It lets passengers enter its planes even
when it is obvious that they have no business or private reasons for
travelling to Bosnia.
Most of these passengers are Kurds with Turkish passports, who pass
Bosnia and subsequently Croatia in transit while trying to reach
West Europe.
In recent months Bosnia's customs and police officers intensified
the control of passengers coming at the Sarajevo airport from
Turkey. After that, 'Air Bosna' decided to stop its planes in Tuzla
before they land in the Bosnian capital as Tuzla had no developed
system of supervision.
Such decision raised doubts among Bosnian customs authorities as
well as among UN mission officials about the real reasons behind
such a move. For instance, on 5 August, a plane flying from Istanbul
to Sarajevo carried 118 passengers. The plane stopped in Tuzla
where most of passengers left it. Only 18 passengers proceeded for
Sarajevo.
The Bosnian Croat-Muslim entity's finance police has recently
begun auditing financial statements of 'Air Bosna' and first
results of the audit show that there were many irregularities in the
financial operations of this company.
For instance, the Istanbul-based branch made reimbursement for 70
percent of return tickets sold there in the first five months this
year. An interesting thing is that the refunded money for unused
tickets from Sarajevo to Istanbul were not taken by passengers
whose names were on the tickets but by their relatives or friends on
their behalf.
There is grounded suspicion that this was a well-organised way for
dipping into the company's till, given that the annual financial
statements showed that the company had a deficit in its accounts
which was evidently caused by unjustified reimbursement.
UN representatives and Bosnian authorities are continuing to audit
the financial transactions of 'Air Bosna' and take other measures
to prevent the inflow of illegal migrants.
Bosnia's minister in charge of human rights and refugees, Kresimir
Zubak, was quoted by the local press as saying that a visa regime
might soon be introduced for citizens of Turkey and Tunisia.
A similar practice when stricter visas were introduced for Iranian
citizens helped reduce the inflow of illegal migrants from that
country. In 2000, even 14,000 persons with Iranian passports poured
into Bosnia, while since the introduction of the visa regime, only a
few dozen Iranians have so far this year travelled in Bosnia, Zubak
said.
(hina) ms