Thursday

28th Mar 2024

EU: Bosnia 'sacrificing' homeless migrants

  • Some 2,000 people are facing harsh winter conditions in Bosnia (Photo: Hannu-Pekka Laiho / International Red Cross)

The plight of around 2,000 people stuck in harsh Bosnian winter conditions are being used as internal political pawns, says the European Commission.

"People's lives cannot be sacrificed for internal political power struggles," European Commission spokesperson Peter Stano told reporters on Monday (4 January).

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Stano scolded Bosnia and Herzegovina, saying that the country needs to start acting like an "aspiring EU country" and get the people into immediate accommodation.

The migrants, including refugees and asylum seekers, are squatting in abandoned buildings and in forest camps in and around the area of the Una Sana canton near the Croat border.

Some are now being given winter jackets and blankets - but remain exposed outdoors.

Rough estimates suggest some 70,000 people have arrived in Bosnia and Herzegovina since early 2018. The vast majority have since left for the European Union, leaving behind up to 8,500.

Of those around 6,000 are currently in EU-funded housing in centres located in Sarajevo and the Una Sana canton.

"The irony of all of this, if you want, is that you have 6,000 people in functioning centres, that is fine, but we actually have two other centres that could accommodate the rest and they are operational," said Peter Van der Auweraert from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The commission announced an additional €3.5m of humanitarian aid, none of which goes to the state, to help those on the ground. It means the EU has doled out close to €14m to Bosnia and Herzegovina in humanitarian aid since 2018.

Van der Auweraert, who is chief IOM coordinator for the region, says the issue is not about the lack of funding.

He pointed out those made homeless could have a bed within 24 hours, noting some 600 could be immediately placed in a former military barracks.

But local and federal political fighting, along with decentralised state governance structures, appears to be behind the latest humanitarian incident.

Bosnia and Herzegovina's ministry of security is legally-bound to provide migrants with accommodation.

A lack of consensus at the state level on how to deal with the people has confounded authorities for years.

The existing five migrant housing centres in the country, were all set up under emergency conditions.

And local grievances in the Una Sana canton have also increased given that, aside from Sarajevo, no other canton has a migrant centre.

Federal authorities on 31 December decided to temporarily relocate migrants to Bradina, another site, after a camp known as Lipa was burned down.

The army has since put up tents in Lipa but these are placed directly on the ground without flooring and without any bedding.

The federal decision triggered Bradina protests, with local authorities then refusing to open a new centre, leaving some 900 Lipa migrants stuck on buses.

The saga has been further complicated by November local elections where nationalist parties lost out.

Bosnia wants explanation for Macron's 'time-bomb' remark

Bosnia requested an interview with the French ambassador to Sarajevo, after Emmanuel Macron described the country as a "ticking time bomb" and one of the greatest concerns for Europe due to the "problem of returning jihadists".

Opinion

Lessons from Vučjak migrant camp in Bosnia & Herzegovina

Last week, the Vučjak camp in northwest Bosnia and Herzegovina was finally closed. Termed "The Jungle" by people who were living there, the camp had no running water, no electricity, no usable toilets, and mouldy, leaking, and overcrowded tents.

Opinion

Migrants in Bosnia: a disaster foretold on EU doorstep

Ultimately, the European Pact on Migration and Asylum, only unveiled in September, risks reinforcing bottlenecks and misery at the borders, should be thoroughly amended before final agreement.

Opinion

Why is Germany rushing a new Bosnia high representative?

The Office of the High Representative, tasked with coordinating international actors and ensuring implementation of the non-military components of the 1995 Dayton peace accords, has languished for a decade and a half.

Opinion

The EU's perverse agenda in Bosnia

In its quest for a quick deliverable in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the European Union is trying to broker a deal that risks entrenching the power of Croat nationalists who are resisting moves to make the country more functional.

Investigation

How migrants risk becoming drug addicts along Balkan route

Psychotropic drug abuse is one of the many dangers migrants face along the Balkan route. In overcrowded camps, doctors prescribe tranquilisers to calm people down. And black market circuits and pharmacies selling drugs without prescription contribute to the issue.

Analysis

Election in sight, EU mood music changes on offshoring asylum

Designating a country like Rwanda as 'safe' under EU rules to send an asylum-seeker there requires strict conditions to be met first. But a backdoor clause introduced into EU legislation allows a future commission to strip out those requirements.

Latest News

  1. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  2. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  3. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  4. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  5. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  6. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult
  7. EU unveils plan to create a European cross-border degree
  8. How migrants risk becoming drug addicts along Balkan route

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us