The lives of several hundred homeless migrants stranded in Bosnia, on the border of the European Union (EU), are in danger and this situation is "
totally unacceptable
", denounced on Saturday the EU special representative in Bosnia. .
Read also: Bosnia: a camp for migrants destroyed by a fire
Since a fire burned down their camp near the Bosnian town of Bihac (north-west) on 23 December, a thousand migrants have been homeless in very cold and rainy weather.
“
The situation is totally unacceptable.
The lives and fundamental rights of several hundred people are seriously at risk,
”said EU Special Representative in Bosnia Johann Sattler after a meeting with Bosnian Security Minister Selmo Cikotic.
The camp probably burned down by the migrants themselves
Camp Lipa, named after the locality where it was located, opened in April, was abandoned on December 23 by teams from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), its manager, because conditions were there. not assembled to shelter its residents during the winter.
He was never connected to the electricity grid and had no running water.
It was set on fire immediately after, according to the police, probably by migrants themselves, in protest against the IOM's withdrawal.
Johann Sattler met the Bosnian minister together with the Austrian, German and Italian ambassadors in Bosnia, according to a statement from the EU delegation in Sarajevo.
The discussion focused on "
urgent solutions for an extremely worrying situation
", according to the same source.
The European Commission, which finances the operation of several reception centers for migrants in Bosnia, and the IOM are calling for the reopening of a center in the city of Bihac, but the municipal and cantonal authorities are opposed.
This center, installed in an abandoned factory, was closed in early October, under pressure from residents.
In this very decentralized country, the federal government, which also wants the reopening of this center, which could accommodate 2,000 people, cannot impose it on local power.
To try to alleviate this crisis, the government has deployed the army which is setting up tents on the site of the burnt camp, but it seems that the migrants do not intend to use them because they do not will not be equipped with heating or running water.
An attempt to relocate them to a barracks in the south of the country failed on Wednesday for lack of a political agreement.
In protest, they refused Friday and Saturday the only meal distributed to them by a local NGO and the Red Cross, Red Cross official Selam Midzic told state television (FTV).
Some 8,500 migrants, who want to reach Western Europe, are currently in Bosnia, of whom nearly 6,000 live in reception centers, while between 2,500 and 3,000 are homeless, according to IOM.
Read also: In Italy, the Covid-19 could justify the reception of migrants