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What will happen to the migrants in Lipa, Bosnia, from now on? The EU is pushing for people who endure the snow and cold to find shelter quickly. But the atmosphere in Bosnia-Herzegovina is heated.
After the fire in a refugee and migrant camp in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the EU Commission appealed to local authorities to provide people with a space to live. “It is clear that the immediate and practical solution is to reopen the reception center in Bira,” said Interior Commissioner Ylva Johansson. There, on the outskirts of Bihac, there is heating, electricity, running water and space for 1,500 people.
The EU has already provided financial support and promised more. Johansson stressed that this could ease the plight of people stranded in the snow. “We call on the Bosnian national and local authorities to work together to provide these people with the refuge they deserve.”
Residents prevented alternative accommodation
The situation of migrants is very difficult. The authorities’ latest attempt to find a new accommodation failed due to protests from local residents. The buses should have taken the refugees to a former barracks in the south of the country on Tuesday, but local residents protested.
After spending a day and a night on the buses, the migrants were taken back to the burned camp near the Lipa municipality. The camp had previously been cleared by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) because the Bosnian authorities had not winterized it.
Since the fire, more than 1,000 refugees and migrants have endured freezing temperatures outdoors. Most of them are solo travelers who cannot be offered a place in the other overcrowded camps.
