Migrant centres in the Una-Saka Canton (USK) have around 2,500 migrants, but due to the constant influx of migrants to this canton, many will find themselves in the streets, in the woods or somewhere else in the open when winter comes.

The abandoned student dormitory is being refurbished, but the works are slow because the authorities are unable to move the migrants to a different location during the refurbishment. The dorm itself houses some 700 migrants. The building has no doors, windows and the tents located around the building are now swimming in mud.

“It’s too cold inside these tents. There are heaters, but they don’t allow us to turn them on inside the tents – we have children there. When the IOM people come, they turn on the heaters for 10 minutes, but as soon as they leave, the heaters are turned off,” one of the migrants said.

A shower is out of the question because the water is too cold. Many are sick and the doctor is here only several hours a day. In the meantime, new migrants are coming and there is no room for them in the tents.

“The new people are sleeping everywhere, on the grass, in the streets and that’s a big problem,” another migrant said for N1. “I don’t have a jacket, no pants and no money.”

Others were luckier, and they received blankets, jackets and shoes from the International Organisation for Migrations (IOM).

Migrants in another migrant centre in this north-western canton, the Bira centre, say they need warm clothes the most, but also hygiene products, a doctor and medicines.

Aid is coming from all sides. One of the aid suppliers is the Turkish Red Cross who recently brought 10 new tents.

“With the weather conditions getting worse, it's normal for such problems to accumulate. We agreed with the Turkish Red Cross to bring us a large shipment of warm clothes and shoes which will be delivered to migrants residing in the area of the city of Bihac and the entire USK,” Selam Midzic from the Bihac Red Cross told N1.

The bad conditions in the centres are making the migrants more nervous. Fights are getting more common.

The ever colder weather is forcing migrants to stay in the centres more often, and their increasing number is urging the authorities to speed up renovation works.