[ad_1]
Bosnia and Herzegovina was off the Balkan route. But since 2017, tens of thousands have tried to enter the EU from there. Lack of political responsibility and open rejection lead to conflict.
By Srdjan Govedarica and Andrea Beer, ARD Studio Vienna
Pat white bread, tomato sauce, and mayonnaise to soften. Water, sleeping bag and feeling of fear and hope. Mustafa J. takes him away when he tries to cross the “green border” into Croatia without valid papers and, therefore, into the EU. The 26-year-old Afghan from Kabul stands in a former factory in the northwestern Bosnian city of Bihac, which is in danger of collapse and is home to several hundred refugees and homeless migrants. They cook over an open fire, they sleep on the bare floor, they have no toilet facilities and Corona is not a problem.
According to UNHCR, most of the people come from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria or North Africa. Alone, in pairs or in small groups, they were part of Bihac’s urban landscape until recently. Many of them with dirty bandages on their hands and pain in their feet. In recent days, the homeless have largely disappeared, apparently taken away by the authorities. TO ARD-Much of the information is still in empty buildings. Bihac is located in the Una-Sana canton in the northwest of the country and at the beginning of August the latter decreed that no more refugees and migrants would be allowed to enter its territory.
A stalemate, because other parts of the country in Bosnia and Herzegovina also refuse to accept people. As a result, refugees and migrants do not return or advance on rural roads between Una Sana canton and the neighboring Serbian part of the country, the Republika Srpska. If you are arriving from Sarajevo or Banja Luka on foot or by bus, the Una Sana Canton Police will stop you. A precarious situation, because there are still immigrants and refugees from Serbia who want to reach Northwest Bosnia. Including families with children.
Complaints of violence against the Croatian police
When they try to walk to and through Croatia without valid documents, many are detained by the Croatian police and usually return to Bosnia without documentation. A violation of the Geneva Convention for Refugees, Croatian and European legislation, which also protects people without valid papers from arbitrariness, because they have the right to a transparent and documented procedure. During these so-called setbacks, people sometimes experience massive violence from the Croatian police. Human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and refugees have reported and documented this ten thousand times. People have to expect humiliation and baton beatings, and mobile phones, money, luggage, and often even clothing will be taken away from them.
However, many try again and again and say that ARD-Study of Southeastern Europe that had been thrown into rivers and had to stay there for a long time. Human rights organizations such as Amnesty International or border violence watchdog, doctors and journalists have documented numerous injuries to people, including complicated fractures, serious head injuries, dog bites, and psychological violence such as yelling or laughing when humiliated. There is border violence throughout the Balkans, but Croatian police are particularly brutal on the EU’s border with Bosnia-Herzegovina, according to a report by Amnesty International.
Some of the people were mistreated so much that they could no longer walk alone and had to be treated in hospital. “For us, rejections are a fact,” says Mite Cilkovski of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). ARD. Run Camp Miral on Velika Kladusa. The Croatian Interior Ministry vehemently rejects these accusations. At the borders, they act strictly in accordance with the law and reject the idea that Croatian police officers do such a thing or have a motive for it.
Overcrowded refugee camps
All official accommodation in Bosnia and Herzegovina is managed by IOM. The Bira refugee camp in Bihac no longer accepts anyone because it is about to be closed. The Miral accommodation in Velika Kladusa is also overcrowded according to the IOM, as is Camp Lipa, about 25 kilometers from Bihac. Families with children stay in smaller accommodations. However, there are increasing reports that these particularly vulnerable people also have to sleep outdoors.
According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), at the end of July this year there were 15,000 refugees, migrants and asylum seekers in the Western Balkan countries (i.e. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro , North Macedonia and Serbia), including 560 unaccompanied children. Most of the people come from Greece through North Macedonia to Serbia, from where they pass through Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ninety-five percent are in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, says Neven Crvenkovic of UNHCR’s regional office for Southeast Europe in Sarajevo. The biggest problem is the lack of accommodation or bad equipment. According to IOM estimates, up to 2,000 people are homeless in the region.
Deaths along the Balkan route
So there are still people on the Balkan route. And not everyone survives this. Since July 2013 ARD-Studio Südosteuropa 237 documented deaths: the number of unreported cases is likely to be much higher and new ones are constantly being added. People were killed in car and train accidents, drowned, shot, or died of disease. Corona is now also a problem. Five cases have just been confirmed in the largest refugee camp in the city of Bihac.
Meanwhile, the citizens of northwestern Bosnia feel alone with the situation: the central government of Sarajevo and the EU. For some, the frustration has turned into attacks and protests in front of the refugee camps, also fueled by conspiracy theories and, in some cases, outright racism, which is spread on social networks and some media. The Una-Sana cantonal government has a restrictive policy aimed at removing people from their responsibility and insists that people be distributed throughout the country. But in other places, too, the problem is met with open rejection by politicians and citizens. In Velika Kladusa, citizens blocked a bus that was supposed to carry people, and in Bihac several hundred people asked on Saturday not to accept refugees and migrants.
