The Serbian police have arrested 738 migrants in several raids in the northern and eastern regions of the country, as part of a nationwide operation that began last week following a shooting incident that resulted in the deaths of three migrants. In a statement late Thursday, the police reported arrests of migrants in the cities of Subotica, Sombor, and Kikinda near the Hungarian border in the north, as well as near the town of Pirot in the southeast at the Bulgarian border.
The police stated that they inspected over five thousand vehicles and 32 homes, seizing passports and other personal documents, and have detained hundreds of migrants with dozens arrested so far. The statement noted, "In the coming days, the police will intensify operations and send forces to curb illegal migration." The statement did not specify the origins of the migrants, but most individuals using the Balkan route to the European Union come from the Middle East, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and North Africa. This route extends through Turkey, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, and Serbia.
Many migrants cross borders with the assistance of complex networks of smugglers, sometimes armed, and incidents of gunfire between criminal groups are common. Last week, three migrants were killed in a shootout near the Serbia-Hungary border, a route frequently used by human traffickers to bring migrants into the European Union.
