The construction of the Detention Center, a kind of detention unit, within the migrant reception camp in Lipa, near Bihać, was stopped after the reaction of the BiH authorities.
This was confirmed by Una Sana Canton Prime Minister Mustafa Ružnić in an interview with Klix.ba.
He reminded that putting that part of the camp into operation is the responsibility of the Ministry of Security of BiH.
“We in the USC specifically asked for a ban on the construction of detention units within the center of Lipa and, since we reacted in a timely manner, the ‘project’, which allegedly costs half a million euros in aid to BiH, was stopped,” Ružnić said.
He added that the BiH authorities called on the representatives of the competent institutions and the EU to react in order to avoid the risks of creating crisis situations in this part of BiH. In addition, this is necessary, he adds, in order to act in a coordinated manner in the future in migration processes and models of legal and humane acceptance of migrants, while at the same time guaranteeing the safety and rights of the citizens of BiH.
“This is our basic duty and we confirmed this in the conversation with the head of the European Union Delegation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ambassador Johann Sattler, as well as the Minister of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nenad Nešić, and the director of the Service for Affairs with Foreigners, Žarko Laket,” points out Ružnić.
He says that it is shocking that the EU, which insists on transparency and compliance with procedures for BiH, on the other hand in BiH allowed the construction of a detention unit in the center of Lipa to be secretly financed.
“This construction is also not in accordance with the urban planning permit or the construction project of this complex, the construction of which we partially financed ourselves, namely on the part of the camp that was arranged as a sports field. We agreed with the Minister of Security, Nešić, that the safety of the citizens is our priority. Bihać and Bosnia and Herzegovina are a priority and that the construction of detention centers is not an option,” Ružnić concluded in an interview with Klix.ba.
Let us remind you that on May 31, the Minister for Human Rights and Refugees of BiH Sevlid Hurtić met with the representative Ewa Ernst-Džiedžić and participated in the discussion on the human rights of migrants.
In his address, he pointed out that our country insists on respecting the rights of migrants in accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights, adding that in this matter, recently, things on the ground are changing in a positive direction.
He emphasized that he was surprised by the move to finance the opening of a detention center within the center of Lipa, first of all, because the new Law on Foreigners, which prescribes such a center, has not yet been adopted, and even in that case, it would not be located within the existing one.
He added that behind the opening of the Detention Center is the organization ICMPD through the Austrian Government.
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.
