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The initially planned relocation of around 500 refugees and homeless migrants from northwestern Bosnia to replacement neighborhoods in the interior of the country is increasingly uncertain. Following protests by politicians and residents of Konjic municipality, 45 kilometers southwest of Sarajevo, the departure of migrants from the evacuated Lipa camp near Bihac was apparently stopped.
The buses that should have taken people to Konjic on Tuesday left again on Wednesday afternoon to no avail, the Bosnian news portal “klix.ba” reported. The migrants were left in the open and left to fend for themselves. They had spent the night before on buses that did not leave due to the protests in Konjic. The Bosnian government assigned them a former army barracks in Bradina district as new accommodation.
As reported by the regional Internet portal TV “N1”, the inhabitants of Bradina blocked the barracks. Local politicians also opposed the decision to house the migrants in army facilities. This does not correspond to the usual procedure and has in no way been discussed with the local authorities, it is quoted from a statement by the government of the Herzegovina-Neretva canton, where Bradina is located.
In Bosnia, the anti-migrant mood of the population has changed since the Balkans became a transit zone on the so-called Balkan route. Migrants don’t want to stay in Bosnia. Thousands of them are trapped there because so far they have not been able to cross the “green” border into neighboring EU country Croatia.
Meanwhile, Austria wants to provide one million euros for the care of refugees in Bosnia-Herzegovina. As the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Wednesday, the aid will go mainly to the care of “women, children and unaccompanied minors.” The contribution should “be available in the next few days,” he said. “The situation has become extremely acute in recent weeks. Due to winter conditions, we want to quickly make our contribution to improve living conditions here,” the statement to Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) quoted the statement.
The Lipa camp is located in an inhospitable area 25 kilometers southeast of Bihac and was built in April after the Bira refugee camp on the outskirts of the next largest city in Bihac was closed due to popular resistance. However, last week, the IOM had to close the camp in Lipa because, despite promises from the government, it was never connected to the central water and electricity network and therefore not suitable for winter. Many of the around 1,300 residents of the camp who had previously made their way to Serbia, around 900 waited in winter conditions and a shortage of supplies from aid organizations in Lipa. Some of the youths had set fire to tents and containers when they were evicted. Due to their proximity to Croatia, Bihac and the Una-Sana canton are very attractive to refugees and migrants.
While there are many refugee families with children on the Greek islands, the majority of those seeking protection in Bosnia are single men. Almost 30 percent come from Afghanistan, about 23 percent from Pakistan, 19 percent from Bangladesh, and nine percent from Morocco. The rate of recognition of asylum applications from these countries, with the exception of Afghanistan, is relatively low in Austria.
In view of the situation in Bosnia, Caritas spoke of a “refugee drama at the door” and began the emergency distribution of clothing, winter shoes and sleeping bags. Through a spontaneous donation campaign on Facebook, more than 100,000 euros have already been donated for Caritas emergency aid in the Balkans, Caritas Austria announced in a broadcast. More donations are urgently needed.
“Our country is overwhelmed by the situation. But what it urgently needs now is immediate help for people who have very little to get through the next few days and go through the winter unscathed,” said Miljenko, Caritas director in Banja Luka. Aničić. Some 3,000 refugees in Una-Sana canton, in the north-west of the country, had no roof over their heads, lived in forests and had to spend the night outdoors even when it was snowing, which was “shameful”. “25 years ago, all of Europe took in war refugees from the crumbling Yugoslavia. On the contrary, we were unable to offer accommodation to hundreds of refugees,” Aničić criticized.
Andreas Knapp, Secretary General for Foreign Aid at Caritas Austria, expressed concern: “We are experiencing anything but a great time for the European Union. Young children being bitten by rats in Samos. Families who have to live on land in Lesbos People who Cold death threatens in Bosnian forests. The situation is dramatic and the international community and the EU are called here, because it must be avoided in all circumstances that people are left without supervision here. Quick help is required, otherwise people would freeze to death.
Michael Opriesnig, Secretary General of the Austrian Red Cross, had made a similar statement earlier in the APA conversation. “It is a tragedy to see how people are treated,” he said of the situation in Bosnia. He called for a sustainable pan-European solution, also with a view to the situation in the Greek islands, to end the “unworthy spectacle” across Europe.
Around 16,000 migrants were registered in Bosnia-Herzegovina this year. But only a fraction of them wanted to stay in the country, the majority wanted to continue to the EU.
Quelle: What / Dpa
