SARAJEVO, April 16 (Xinhua)-- Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Border Police have intercepted 1,036 migrants from January 1 to April 15, 2018, a significant increase year-to-year, an official report said Monday.
The 1,036 persons originating from "high migration risk countries", 157 were discovered in January, 315 in February, 340 in March and 224 until April 15 en route to countries of the European Union.
The report states that the greatest number of migrants originates from Syria (312), Pakistan (163), Libya (118), Afghanistan (100) and Palestine (63).
When it comes to the place where the migrants were detected, the report says the majority of them were seen in the northern part of BiH near the border crossing with Croatia and in the southeastern part where BiH borders with Serbia.
Additionally, 1,191 persons gave up of entering BiH due to the engagement of police officers at the border line with Montenegro and Serbia.
"According to the statutory regulations, persons who enter BiH illegally are put under the supervision of the Service for Foreigners' Affairs Immigration Center or if they intend to pursue asylum in BiH, they are sent in asylum center under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Security, the Asylum Sector," BiH Service for Foreigners' Affairs explained.
In 2016, some 100 migrants were recorded in BiH, in 2017 the number of persons was 754, local media quoted BiH Border Police as saying.
