It is estimated some 8,000 migrants are in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is easy to enter it through poorly guarded Serbia and Montenegro borders. They don’t want to stay here but trying to reach Western Europe. That is why most of them are placed in Una-Sana Canton, the northwest area deeply inclined in the closest EU member state, Croatia.
The International Organisation for Migration finance five camps regularly: two for families and three for single men primarily; accommodate some 5,000 people currently. Anyway, it refuses to provide help for the camp in the Vučjak mountain. The reason: it is too close to the Croatian border, which means the EU border too.
Vučjak was opened last summer by local authorities as a response to local residents’ protests in the Una-Sana Canton capital of Bihać demanding that migrants should no longer stay in public spaces. Ever since the UN and EU demand its closure. The city of Bihać announced earlier this week they will no longer provide the water supply and garbage collection. The local Red Cross has not enough food and, because of health and security reasons, they will stop to prepare cooked meals and will start to deliver lunch packages only.
The humanitarian crisis at the overcrowded Vučjak camp was about to escalate. As a temporary solution, the cantonal authorities took over the care for water supply and garbage removal.
The country is not capable of long-term dealing with the migrant crisis. It even still negotiates to form the government after the October 2018 election.
The Una-Sana Canton’s task force for the monitoring of the migration has requested on Monday the urgent relocating of migrants from Vučjak to Medeno Polje near Bosanski Petrovac. If that happens, local residents are ready to go towards the Council of Ministers in Sarajevo in columns and set up camps there, so that the authorities may see how to solve the crisis.
Meanwhile, the closure of another two camps, placed in BIRA and MIRAL factories, is announced by their owners as soon as their contracts with IOM are expired. The harsh winter is about to come, Fairplanet reports.
