Relocation of migrants to Sedra hotel begins

Anadoliija

Some 100 migrants and refugees who were moved this week from the temporary settlements in Velika Kladusa and Bihac, in the north-west of Bosnia, are currently staying in Sedra hotel, Cazin municipality, said the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) coordinator Vladimir Mitkovski.

There are no juveniles without the control of parents among the relocated migrants.

“We plan to accept 40 more persons in the next two days, also from the territory of Velika Kladusa and Bihac. The IOM is present in Borici settlement, Bihac as well as in Velika Kladusa,” said Mitkovski.

The IOM's official hopes the current works in the hotel will end soon, adding that the conditions in Velika Kladusa in which the migrants are staying are not good. They lack toilets, showers and other necessary facilities.

Mitkovski compared the current situation with migrants with the one from 2016.

“We also worked in the field in Macedonia when the Balkans route, which closed in 2016, was open. Nearly one million people passed. There was a regular flow of migrants back then. But here, the people have been staying in one spot for months and that must be solved,” he stressed.

Around 4,000 migrants are currently seeking a temporary shelter in the Una-Sana Canton, as they are trying to reach their final destinations in the western Europe. According to Mitkovski, the number of migrants is changing on daily basis.

The Una-Sana Canton, Bosnia's westernmost region bordering Croatia, has been struggling with the increasing number of illegal migrants who were finding a temporary shelter there on their way to the final destinations in the western Europe. According to the Bosnia's Service for Foreigners’ Affairs, since the start of the year, 8,930 illegal migrants have arrived in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A vast majority of them have expressed their intention to formally request asylum but a few have done so.