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The aid will be used mainly for the care of “women, children and unaccompanied minors”. The contribution should “be available in the next few days,” he said.
Austria’s contribution will benefit the International Organization for Migration (IOM) through the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), the ministry 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.
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.
The evacuation of hundreds of people from the now closed Lipa refugee camp in Bosnia-Herzegovina had previously been canceled. According to the IOM, around 900 remaining refugees should have been taken by bus to a former barracks in Bradina, 45 kilometers southwest of Sarajevo, on Tuesday. However, media reported on Wednesday, the transfer was blocked at the political level. Therefore, people had to spend the night on the provided buses.
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.
A solution is expected later in the day, Serbian agency Tanjug reported, citing the Interior Ministry. In any case, the police and the ministry are ready to help with the evacuation.
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.
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 immigrants were registered in Bosnia-Herzegovina this year, but only a fraction of them wanted to stay in the country, most of them wanted to continue to the EU.
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