Bosnia and Migration
More than 7,000 people reside in seven official migrant camps run by IOM in the country, of which Krajina itself consists house nearly 7000 in the five camps set up in its town centres. Out of those five camps, Bira was the place from where the authorities were keen to get rid of the camp or shutting down the camp. The camp in Bira accounts for over a half of the overall reception capacities available to migrants in Bosnia.
The Bosnian authorities were provided with 60 million euros as emergency fund mainly for the IOM-run camps.
Bosnia couldn’t completely recover from it’s 1992-95 war, was unable to cope up with the thousands of Europe-bound migrants three years ago as other nations closed their borders and disrupted migration paths through the Balkans.
Krajina was also favourable for the migrants as it shares a highly porous 1,000-kilometer border with Croatia, making it a gateway towards the continent’s prosperous heartlands further in the north and west.
Many who have been thrown out by the local authorities and had to be on their own filled remote woods, abandoned buildings and roadside edges with makeshift camps as they were homeless and had to fend for themselves in desolate areas.
The UN run migrant camps in town centres were being emptied by the authorities and are being moved to a more crowded facility. As the cold season is arriving, the new facilities are out of winter equipments or else the migrants are left to be on their own in the woods.
Out of every four migrant, one lives a homeless life in Bosnia. Nearly 10,000 are stuck within the small Balkan country’s borders since the other countries sealed their borders.
A several hundred people were evicted by the police from the Bira camp on wednesday last week by the local authorities in the town of Bihac. Mostly young men were bussed from the town of Bihac in the north-western Krajina region to a remote camp, which seems to be already full.
“the crowded tent camp, set up in April, might soon be forced to close. “ – Peter Van der Auweraert of the United Nations migration agency, IOM told the Associated Press.
‘The camp is only for summer weather conditions,’ he said. “In the next few days, Krajina authorities plan to empty a second camp of its 700 residents. It’s unclear where they will be sent.”
The local authorities of Krajina accuse the poorer parts of the country due to not being able to provide or help out in the lingering migration issue.
