SARAJEVO, Nov 7 (Hina) - Croatian and Bosnia's Posavina Canton police forces continue to search for seven people gone missing after a boat they used to illegally enter Croatia across the Sava river overturned two nights ago, a UN
official said on Tuesday. Not one of the seven people has been found, their bodies neither, Douglas Coffman, spokesman for the United Nations Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, told reporters in Sarajevo. They are believed to be Turks who most probably perished in an attempt to illegally emigrate to the West. Two Turks who survived the sinking and were given medical assistance have been released from hospital. Coffman said the tragedy spurred a meeting of representatives of international organisations active in Bosnia who may help solve the illegal immigration issue. Convened by the deputy head of the UN Mission to Bosnia, Julian Harston, the meeting concluded the i
SARAJEVO, Nov 7 (Hina) - Croatian and Bosnia's Posavina Canton
police forces continue to search for seven people gone missing
after a boat they used to illegally enter Croatia across the Sava
river overturned two nights ago, a UN official said on Tuesday.
Not one of the seven people has been found, their bodies neither,
Douglas Coffman, spokesman for the United Nations Mission to Bosnia
and Herzegovina, told reporters in Sarajevo. They are believed to
be Turks who most probably perished in an attempt to illegally
emigrate to the West. Two Turks who survived the sinking and were
given medical assistance have been released from hospital.
Coffman said the tragedy spurred a meeting of representatives of
international organisations active in Bosnia who may help solve the
illegal immigration issue. Convened by the deputy head of the UN
Mission to Bosnia, Julian Harston, the meeting concluded the issue
was connected to organised crime, which is increasingly
endangering the rule of law in Bosnia.
The joint position is that at present Bosnia is one of the weakest
spots which facilitates the transport of people to western Europe,
said Coffman. At least 20,000 illegal emigrants take advantage of
poor border control every year, according to UN data.
Each immigrant pays a minimum DM2,000, which means that organised
crime makes more than DM40 million on illegal transport, said
Coffman.
Bosnian authorities have been urged to pass urgent measures to
establish efficient border control and pass laws to prevent illegal
immigrants from entering the country.
(hina) ha