The Velika Kladusa Municipal Delegation rejected Bosnian Security Minister Dragan Mektic’s proposal of making a temporary tent settlement in that municipality, where migrants would be accommodated.

Head of the Velika Kladusa Municipal Assembly Fikret Basic said Mektic told them the EU was ready to fund the temporary tent settlement in the Polje settlement in Velika Kladusa, until the construction of a permanent reception centre in Medeno Polje, near Velika Kladusa, Northernmost town in Bosnia, near the Bosnian-Croatian border.

“We couldn’t accept the proposal on the formation of a temporary tent-settlement in Velika Kladusa, because the Municipal Assembly decided, earlier, to remove all migrants from the area of our Municipality. We will soon hold a Board session of the Municipal Assembly on this issue,” Basic said.

According to him, there are currently around 1,000 illegal migrants who are housed in a tent settlement and in private houses on the territory of Velika Kladusa.  

The Service for Foreigners’ Affairs said that since the start of this year, 8,930 illegal migrants have arrived in Bosnia and Herzegovina on their way to the western Europe. A vast majority of them have expressed their intention to formally request asylum, but few have done so. They need a document confirming that they have applied for asylum to be able to travel around and to try to continue their journey to the European Union.