Residents of several suburban Tuzla local communities have started peaceful protests on last Thursday, in front of a building where the Tuzla Cantonal (TC) Assembly was held, to express their resistance to the possibility of accommodating migrants near their homes.
Goran Stojak from the Local Community of Bukinje claimed that the population was in panic because of the announced possibility of opening a migrant center in the former barracks in Ljubace, more precisely proposing that the center should be built in the Tuzla settlement of Bukinje.
‘’I do not believe that these people are refugees, but migrants who enter Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) illegally. It has been announced that they are coming to a place where the Croatian population represent the majority, and for us that means expulsion. Our mayor gave a firm statement and declared that he would not allow the migrant to be opened in the Tuzla area,’’ Stojak said.
The gathered locals demanded that their opinion should be respected, and that they will not allow the opening of the migrant center.
‘’These people left their jobs on this day because they wanted to protect their homes. We are ready to stand in front of the barracks and forbid entry, even at the cost of arresting us. This is the general view of the residents,’’ Drazen Vilusic, the president of the Ljubace Local Community emphasized.
The Assembly and the Government of TC, as stated by the representatives of these authorities in TC, are not competent for the accommodation of migrants, as this is the specfic competence of the state.
‘’We are not competent to make any decisions. It is the responsibility of the BiH Ministry of Security that needs to secure the state border. These people are in transit. As for me and the Assembly of TC, we do not support creating any migration centers in the TC area. We can only provde humanitarian support,’’ TC Assembly President Zarko Vujovic said, radiosarajevo.ba portal reports.
