Of all the migrant accommodation facilities we have Blazuj is the best, Bosnia's Security Minister said Wednesday after some 3,000 migrants were moved out of the notorious camp Vucjak in the north of the country, into other centres – one of which is Blazuj barracks near Sarajevo.
“We made a joint plan with the Una-Sana Canton and the International Organisation for Migrations (IOM) on how to do it over the weekend by analysing the situation,” Mektic said noting that 3560 migrants stayed in camp Vucjak.
Responding to some media reports that the new location for migrant accommodation, the Blazuj barracks near Sarajevo, were not suited for their accommodation and that the facility was as bad as Vucjak, Mektic said such accusations were false.
“Early this morning I was some information that conditions in camp Blazuj were catastrophic. I want to deny those claims right now. Out of all the facilities we have, the Blazuj barracks is the best. The migrants are in a completely closed space, we gave them beds, sleeping bags, blankets, food and tea,” the Security Minister said. “New containers are coming to Blazuj, we reconstructed the toilets and all the plumbing and we will finish the heating in the barracks by the end of the day.”
He added that some 750 migrants were relocated from the Una-Sana Canton to the Sarajevo Canton's Blazuj barracks.
Almost apocalyptic scenes at former migrant camp #Vucjak, northwestern #Bosnia. Red Cross volunteers say that what #migrants left behind is contaminated and will end up at the landfill. https://t.co/q2iIPT0Mje
— N1english (@N1info) December 11, 2019
Peter Van der Auweraert from the IOM said the barracks were not ready for for the migrants but that conditions there are far better than in Vucjak.
“Is Blazuj ready to be a migrant centre? No. We're still working on bringing running water and electricity to the building, as well as ney shipping containers. But for the first time in a very long time, those people have slept in a warm place. They slept inside, got new clothes, they were checked by doctors and they have three regular meals. We had no other choice,” Head of the IOM said. “Blazuj is not ready the way it's going to be, and this will be in a few weeks. But if you compare Blazuj to Vucjak, it's like comparing night and day.”
