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- Following the failed transfer of hundreds of refugees to permanent shelters in the interior of the country, the Bosnian army has started pitching tents in the Lipa slum camp in the northwest of the country.
- People should now remain in the camp, which had actually been cleared and partially burned, 25 kilometers southeast of the city of Bihać, news portal “klix.ba” reported.
- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) had closed the camp a week and a half ago because the Bosnian authorities had not kept their promises to winterize it.
The refugees and migrants should have been taken to a former army barracks near Sarajevo. Protests by local politicians and the population prevented the buses with the migrants from even taking them there.
Winter conditions on inhospitable terrain
Previously, some of the youths had set fire to tents and containers when the camp was evacuated. Since then, the migrants have stayed outdoors in winter weather conditions. Aid organizations provide them with makeshift food in the inhospitable area.
The idea supported by the EU Commission to reopen the Bira camp in the local Bihać area also failed due to resistance from local politics. The migrants were housed there before being brought to Lipa last September due to popular protests. Due to their proximity to the EU country, Croatia, Bihać and the Una-Sana canton are very attractive to refugees and migrants.
In Bosnia, the anti-migrant mood of the population has changed since the Balkans became a transit zone on the so-called Balkan route. Immigrants don’t want to stay in Bosnia. Thousands of them are trapped there because they have not yet been able to cross the “green” border into Croatia.
