'The Game': The perilous trek of refugees from Bosnia to the EU

With spring, migration on the Balkan route is on the rise again – and with it the misery, violence and illegal pushbacks at Croatia's external EU border. By Dirk Planert

  • His face is swollen, he stands in front of a leafless tree or shrub
    Stranded in Bosnia: hundreds of refugees are still waiting in ruins and tents around the western Bosnian town of Bihac for their chance to cross the border into the EU. This young man started out in Pakistan three years ago. He has been stuck in Bosnia for months. He has an infected molar. Europe is only a few kilometres away
  • A man sits on a plastic chair, a river or lake and mountains can be seen in the background
    "The Game" begins: since the onset of spring it has been getting warmer. Now it is time to risk playing "The Game" again. This young man has already tried to enter the EU more than 20 times. Each time he was picked up and illegally "pushed" back to Bosnia by the EU border police. He was given his clothes and backpack by a local aid organisation
  • An older and a younger man sit on a blanket in a tent, between them lies another person whose upper body is not visible
    Waiting for the right weather: in the Lipa refugee camp 20 kilometres away, far from inhabited areas, 200 to 300 men are still living at the moment. Like these two, however, most migrants have sought shelter on the outskirts of town or in the forest. This is closer to the border. For women, children and families, there is still a small camp in the city
  • Tents in a meadow, people in winter clothing sit in front of them, behind them bushes and trees can be seen that are not in leaf
    Looking west: the humanitarian crisis in western Bosnia is not over, but it has become more manageable. Many migrants have now reached their destinations - Germany, France or Italy. Moreover, it has been too cold for "The Game" in recent months. The people on the run have been waiting for spring in camps in Sarajevo or in Serbia
  • An unshaven man looks into the camera, three others stand in front of a fence and talk to two men in yellow tabards
    Care by aid organisations and volunteers: for years, local aid organisations and volunteers from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy have been taking care of the people on the run. SOS-Bihac was founded in the middle of the great refugee crisis in 2015. The aid organisation is supported by Aachener Netzwerk e.V.
  • Bihac Bosnia Refugees Balkan Route
    Four-wheel drive is a must: Endi Cehic is a paramedic with SOS-Bihac. He knows the ruins and places in the forests where refugees find shelter on their way to the EU border. With his all-terrain vehicle, he supplies the people with food, clothing, water and torches as best he can. His patrols often take him high up into the mountains
  • A man with a beard and a yellow tabard hands plastic bottles and filled plastic bags to other men
    Basic medical care and rescue service: 22-year-old Endi is one of the three trained paramedics of SOS-Bihac. He and his colleagues take care of wounds and other medical problems facing the migrants in Western Bosnia. For emergencies, they have their own ambulance, a donation from the German NGO Lautlos e.V.
  • A man lies with his head towards the camera. He is wrapped in a golden metal foil
    Emergency at half past four in the morning: staff at the Lipa refugee camp near the Croatian border call. Two men have been injured by knives during an argument, one seriously. Two minutes later, the SOS Bihac team is on its way. One of the wounded has a life-threatening stab wound to the upper body. He gets a special wound closure and an infusion
  • Bihac Bosnia Refugees Balkan Route
    Emergency intervention at the hospital: during the drive to the hospital, the second wounded man's cuts are treated. The seriously injured man only survives thanks to the emergency intervention at the hospital. Many refugees do not go to Lipa camp because they are afraid of the violence there. They say there is also extortion and robbery behind the fences of the camp
  • Two people are standing with their backs to the camera, on the back of the jacket of the left one is written border police in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, in front of the two a forest path can be seen, on which lies rubbish
    Bosnian police document pushbacks: clear traces of migrants on their way to Europe, a few metres from Croatia's external EU border. Border guards also patrol on the Bosnian side. If they observe illegal pushbacks by Croatian colleagues, this is documented and reported to the next higher office. What happens with the information, the police officers do not know
  • A man sits on the forest floor, next to him lies a jacket, behind him stand three other people
    "My trauma makes me strong": meanwhile, individual Bosnian border police officers inform SOS-Bihac when they find sick or injured people in the forest. Especially in winter, this saves lives. Zlatan Kovacevic, the head of the aid organisation, is himself a war victim: he lost his left leg to a grenade when he was 15, during the Bosnian war. "My trauma makes me strong," says Zlatan
  • Someone holds a kind of mobile phone screen with a metal holder on which there is a kind of joystick
    A game of life and death: Kovacevic sometimes uses a drone to search for people in need. It can also be used to search larger areas in the mountains. "We keep a lookout for people in need every day," he says. "Now, in spring, they are setting out again. Many don't know that 'The Game' can become a game of life and death"