The Austrian organization ICMPD opposes the construction of a facility in the immediate vicinity of the “Lipa” migrant camp, which individuals have described as resembling a detention unit and which is in violation of human rights.
Several documents from the Service for Affairs with Foreigners of BiH and the EU Delegation in BiH confirm that the ICMPD organization is behind the scandal, Austrian OTS reports.
The organization ICMDP denied the construction and responsibility for the scandalous detention prison in the Lipa refugee camp in BiH, but the written statements of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of BiH responsible for Lipa and the EU Delegation in BiH, as well as the repeated media statements of the mayor of Bihać and the prime minister of the Una-Sana Canton clearly confirm that ICMPD is the project holder and is responsible for it.
“The project for the implementation of units for the detention of migrants is implemented through the implementation partner ICMPD. The facility is neither in operation nor under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For all questions related to the construction project and building permits, please contact the implementation partner ICMPD,” the Service’s for Foreigner’ Affairs written statement reads.
This was confirmed by the EU delegation in BiH in a letter to N1 television.
“Construction work on the new building will be led by the ICMPD, and after completion it will be transferred to the jurisdiction of the Service for Foreigners of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” confirms the EU Delegation.
That the ICMPD is responsible is not only confirmed by the immigration office and the EU Delegation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The mayor of the city of Bihać, Elvedin Sedic, also took a clear position after the meeting of the operational group with the cantonal prime minister and said that the city never issued a construction permit for these facilities.
In the end, the ICMPD itself confirmed this in an internal document on the construction of the detention center, which is called “Temporary Reception Center”.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi announced the detention cells back in November 2022, when he announced the detention project in “Lipa” and advocated the detention of people who flee until they return to their country of origin, Klix.ba reports.
