Balkans Rife With ‘Kidnapping, Extortion, And Crime’ Due To Migrant Gangs

This post was republished with permission from Remix News

The Bosnian press is full of stories of migrant gangs threatening the security of the region, specifically endangering local citizens.

One well-known gang, identified as an Afghan criminal network, is kidnapping migrants to extort money from their families, attacking and committing robberies in the border areas around Bihac, and perpetrating other crimes beyond the borders of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a report from Magyar Nemzet states.

Although the overall number of migrants in Bosnia and Herzegovina has decreased, the security situation remains problematic, says the portal. 

The Lipa camp currently houses around 300 migrants, many of whom fear the so-called BVK gang. Muhamed, a migrant from the Syrian city of Raqqa, told the paper: “Some Libyan migrants trying to go to Italy complained that they were attacked, robbed and beaten by a group of Afghans.”

International organizations have confirmed such stories. Another incident involved a kidnapping near Velika Kladusa, with video footage showing a group that was kidnapped and beaten with a piece of wood. The perpetrators were demanding money. 

According to migrants’ accounts, the BVK gang has been operating for at least two years and controls the routes through the forests of the Una-Sana canton. The gang’s members are mainly Afghans. Six Afghan citizens were charged in Bihac.

According to preliminary information from Aldijana Porzsenovics Kurtagics, spokesperson for the Una-Sana Canton Prosecutor’s Office, they were linked to the so-called BVK group, but without any actual proof that they are members of the gang, it cannot be officially stated that specific cases have been opened against the group.

The Ministry of Interior of the Republika Srpska has also registered a kidnapping attempt in June, when several Afghans attempted to kidnap a group of migrants transiting in Orahova, near Gradiska.

In fact, kidnapping has a long tradition in Afghanistan, including the kidnapping of children. The kidnappings are not necessarily, but have a deep history in the country, which are tied to the paying of ransoms. However, for those who do not pay, the ending can be gruesome. In addition, victims are often subjected to sexual abuse and even torture. Now, it appears these same tactics have spread to Europe, and this time, they are targeting migrants who face fewer legal protections and oversight.

“The Gradiska Police Department has determined that four individuals of Afghan origin committed the crime of extortion and unlawful deprivation of liberty against individuals of Pakistani, Sri Lankan and Indian origin,” confirmed Dejan Radics, deputy commander of the Gradiska gendarmerie unit.

Zsarko Laketa, director of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Aliens Police Service, highlighted: “These people are dangerous and will use any means to force migrants to cooperate.”

Meanwhile, migrants are taking advantage of every opportunity to reach the European Union. One boat capsized on the Danube just recently, forcing Croatian police to pull five foreign citizens out of the river, the Vukovar-Szeremség Police Department stated.

According to police spokesman Dragoszlav Zsivkovics, the five people are suspected of illegally attempting to cross the Serbian and Croatian state borders.

While settlements across the south of Europe — from Italy and Spain to the Balkan Peninsula — have become migrant ghettos, with crime and shootings commonplace, the rest of Europe has in no way been spared.

Remix News has covered the issue of migrant criminal organizations across Europe, with increasingly worrisome statistics in Sweden, Germany, and France.

Knife crimes have been surging in Germany, with foreigners accounting for nearly 50 percent of incidents in the first half of 2025, despite making up just 15 percent of the population.

Sweden has faced such huge integration problems that the government is now trying to pay migrants to return to their home country.

France has been subject to an onslaught of sexual assaults, rapes, and murders that has left many French woman afraid to go out at night.

Notably, rapes have nearly doubled in France in the ten-year period between 2014 and 2024.

Sexual violence, harassment and rape have also increased dramatically on French public transport.

??? Sexual violence against women on French public transport has increased 86% since 2016, according to new data released today from the National Observatory on Violence against Women (Miprof)

A disproportionate number of foreign nationals are involved in such crime.… pic.twitter.com/ZAIea5CJpm

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) March 10, 2025

Many of the migrants who have arrived in Europe in the least 10 years have arrived through the Balkan route, however, the Mediterranean remains the main alternative route.

Overall, migrant arrivals into the EU decreased 22 percent in the first nine months of 2025, as EU leaders implement more strict border controls, in large part due to the growth of right-wing parties across Europe. The popularity of these parties is fueled in large part by opposition to mass immigration.

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