The last twenty migrants and refugees who stayed at the Temporary Reception Center “Sedra” in Cazin were transferred to the Bihac center “Borici” on Tuesday. The employed staff was withdrawn, and the complete equipment was taken out of the facility, so it can be stated that this temporary center is closed from now on.
There is still no official statement from the Service for Foreigners’ Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) or international organizations, but it was previously confirmed that the financing agreement for “Sedra” expired yesterday, in which vulnerable categories of migrants and refugees have stayed for almost three years.
“A really small number of migrants and refugees have been staying at the ‘Sedra’ Reception Center lately. Also, we must keep in mind that the contract on financing the center expires at the end of the month, so I think that it will be closed soon, ” said the Deputy Director of the Service for Foreigners’ Affairs of BiH, Mirsad Buzar, about ten days ago.
The Minister of the Interior of the Una-Sana Canton (USC), Nermin Kljajic, also earlier announced the closure of “Sedra” by the end of the month, and added that according to their information, such a decision was made due to the smaller number of migrants coming and staying in this part of BiH.
“It is evident that the number of migrants who are coming to the area of our canton this year is decreased, so all indicators show that the Reception Center ‘Borici’ in Bihac is enough to accommodate vulnerable categories of the migrant population,” told Minister Kljajic.
The temporary reception center “Sedra” was opened in July 2018, and families with children, as well as unaccompanied minors, stayed there with decent living conditions and without major recorded incidents.
Namely, according to the data of the Cantonal Police Administration, about 1.600 migrants and refugees are currently staying in the remaining three reception centers in the USC, while the construction of the migrant center at the Lipa site near Bihac is in an advanced stage. It has been announced that a center with a capacity of about 1.500 accommodation units is being built.
E.Dz.
