Mystery, tragedy and shock over 'child trafficking' case in Bosnia

The authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina still cannot determine the identity of many of the 31 children found in a poor condition in the town of Brčko.

It was a few weeks ago when the police discovered the children from infant age to 12 years in a house in the town's outskirts. 

The authorities discovered them after one small girl escaped and asked a passerby for help. 

The local authorities say it is most likely a case of human trafficking. 

We went to the house in Brčko where the children were kept. Nobody's there now and a police car was parked outside. 

Several arrests

There were still some children's toys at one window sill, and a glimpse through the window showed us the mess inside. Some children's clothing were still hanging from the drying wire on one of the balconies.

"We cannot say at this moment with confidence what was exactly behind this case, nor even how long those children were there," Radmilo Ivanović, Chief Prosecutor of the Brčko District, told CGTN Europe.

"What we can say is they lived in a private house in inadequate conditions. We don't know who left those children there and who was coming to pick them up."

Several arrests were made in connection with this case, but there are still far more questions than answers. In the meantime, the local Red Cross takes care of the children.

"When we took the children, they were full of parasites. Cases like this, as per our knowledge, haven't existed in the past years in the District of Brčko," said Denis Šehanović from Brčko District Red Cross.

There are two photos that were leaked to the public right after the authorities entered this house (See above). They provide just a glance into the conditions in which those children were kept. 

Society shaken

Of the 31 children found in that house, people claiming to be either parents or relatives of 11 of them got in touch with the authorities. 

For the remaining 20, nobody knows who their next of kin is. These children are effectively abandoned. 

This is one of those rare cases that has reached public knowledge and shaken society to the core. 

The Missing Children Europe organization says that every year around one quarter of a million children go missing in Europe. 

That's one child every two minutes. The most vulnerable are the children of migrants. 

The international investigation showed that for the last three years, every day, 47 migrant children in Europe have vanished without a trace. Very few, if any, of those cases reach the public.