The Network for Building Peace, Souls of Sarajevo and SOS Velika Kladusa asked Bosnian authorities, the EU, the UNHCR and the IOM, as well as all other relevant organisations and institutions to resolve the issue of adequate and humane accommodation of all migrants and refugees on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, urgently and without delay.

They noted that a humanitarian crisis is taking place in the cities of Bihac and Velika Kladusa, in northern Bosnia, and that thousands of people were in the open when the stormy weather struck this part of the country.

“For months warnings about the reluctance of the authorities and their refusal to fulfil their legal obligations to provide adequate accommodation and care for these people kept coming, and yet our authorities have transferred their obligations to the exhausted and impoverished citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” said the statement from the three organisations. “The only solution to the problem lies in systemic aid, in providing accommodation, health care service and legal aid (which is the most important thing right now), ass well as education.”

They added that migrants have been sleeping in the open, in abandoned and facilities with inadequate living conditions, while newly built and refurbished facilities remain empty.

“The dysfunctionality of our state suits the international bureaucrats who thrive in our country precisely because of this dysfunctionality. The large offices of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organisation for Migrations (IOM) reject their responsibility for the care of these people, even though their mandates oblige them to do just that.

Due to the storm that hit the northwestern part of Bosnia, human lives are now absolutely threatened. A tent camp in Velika Kladusa which houses between 300 and 500 refugees, including women and children, is under water.”

The organisations demand an urgent reaction from the authorities.

They demand the reaction of all the levels of Bosnian authorities, especially the state and entity levels because the situation surpasses the capacities and capabilities of Bihac and Velika Kladusa.