There are currently nearly 1,500 migrants in Vucjak reception camp and on Thursday there are 1,100 of them at lunch. What will happen until Sunday, until the meals will be served to migrants, is the question – begins his story for “Avaz newspapers” Selam Midzic, secretary of the Bihac Red Cross.
As is well known, Suhret Fazlic, the mayor of Bihac, said recently in Sarajevo that he would let the migrant crisis escalate because the city had no assistance from the state, which means that the financing of the operation of Vucjak would be stopped.
Midzic said that the situation in Vucjak is still difficult and that people in the center are threatened with real disasters. “It should be realistic and say that the situation is difficult, new migrants are coming in every day, who are placed in free tents. We’ll see what will happen by Monday.
I do, however, hope, humanely, that a solution will be found. This center is not a place where people will welcome winter, rain, snow. There are no conditions for migrants to stay and something else must be found, the sooner the better,” Midzic said. He notes that the City of Bihac serves Vucjak, but also includes donations, assistance from non-governmental organizations and Merhamet.
According to media reports, on 14 October, after the decision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Una-Sana Canton, hundreds of migrants residing in public areas in Bihac were forcibly transferred to Vucjak. In addition, it has been reported that a group of around 1,000 people were escorted to Vucjak on foot by the local police.
The UN reiterates its grave concern over the on-going relocation of migrants, including asylum seekers, to the Vucjak site. Significant safety and health risks at Vucjak remain; and the location falls well short of international humanitarian standards. It is thus unsuitable for the purpose of accommodating people. These inadequacies were already highlighted in the UNCT Joint Statement dated 14 June 2019, which followed the decision of the Municipal Council of Bihac to relocate migrants, including asylum seekers, staying outside reception centers to the Vucjak site.
