The International Day of Migrants, which was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 2000, is celebrated today. The purpose is to remind of the importance of respecting the rights of migrants, of whom more than 70,000 have passed through our country this year, and supposedly half of that number are still here. How do they live and in what conditions?
Hungry, thirsty, cold. Until a few years ago, this is what winter looked like for most migrants living in Bihać. The tent settlement on Lipa, near the city, was replaced in the meantime by a camp where almost all of them are currently around nine hundred. Karim from Morocco also says that.
“I am happy to be in this camp. I feel at home. The people are good, kind, and we have a doctor.”
For Karim, as for most, Lipa is only a temporary home. While they fantasize about Western countries, Adel from Iran, on the other hand, found his happiness in Bihać. He got married there, built a house and also works as a translator.
“There is a chance here for anyone who wants to work, get an education… I crossed the border five or six times, came back, I work normally like anyone from Bosnia and Herzegovina.”, Adel Jalali said.
The World Day of Migrants was also an occasion for a joint gathering in the Lipa camp with the arrival of representatives of the local and cantonal authorities. Everyone agrees that the situation in this part of Bosnia and Herzegovina today and a few years ago is incomparable.
“This day evokes memories of the past period and everything that happened, both in the surroundings of the camp, and in Vučjak and Borići…”, said Selam Midzic, secretary of the Bihać Red Cross.
“Today here, unlike in 2018 and 2019, I feel like the others here – like a human being. I expressed my gratitude to the international partners who, together with the Government and the City of Bihać, are doing everything to ensure that these people have a dignified life in this camp.”, explains Nijaz Husic, Prime Minister of Una-Sana Canton.
Although they encounter numerous obstacles on their thorny path, the migrants do not give up on their goal. Every day they go to the “Game”, as they call attempts to cross the border illegally.
The Minister for Human Rights and Refugees of Bosnia and Herzegovina Sevlid Hurtić said today at the Global Forum for Refugees in Geneva that more than 70,000 migrants have passed through BiH this year, and that half of that number are currently in BiH.
He pointed out that the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina enabled refugees with recognized status, as well as stateless persons, to acquire citizenship under easier conditions, after five years of residence in the country. He added that persons who receive refugee status in BiH have the right to a travel document, which enables them to leave and return to BiH without hindrance.
He also noted that changes to the Asylum Act are planned in 2024, which would prescribe rights for persons under subsidiary protection.
“The area of asylum is recognized among 14 priorities that our country must fulfill, and the recommendation of the European Commission is that it is necessary to ensure effective coordination of border management at all levels and ensure the functioning of the asylum system,” he said, among other things.
Minister Hurtić also pointed out that Bosnia and Herzegovina opened its doors to children and families who arrived from Gaza.
“They were provided with accommodation, food and everything else they need until they get their documents in order, and most of them are already in the process of reuniting their families and getting BiH citizenship,” it was announced from the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
