EU in Balkans migration talks

A senior delegation from the European Union is in Bosnia-Herzegovina today for a regional conference on illegal migration, including the smuggling of people.

The EU has recently begun paying increasing attention to the situation in the western Balkans, which has become one of the main routes for illegal immigrants heading for Western Europe.

Up to fifty-thousand people are estimated to have passed through Bosnia alone last year, taking advantage of its porous borders and chaotic law enforcement.

The EU has been urging the country to tighten its visa and border policies, but the Bosnian authorities say more aid is needed to stop the trafficking of people across its borders. During the one-day conference, representatives from the EU and five countries in the region will be discussing visa policies, asylum systems and illegal migration, including measures against people smuggling.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service