Bosnia’s Security Minister urged authorities in the northwestern Una-Sana Canton (USK) and in the town of Bihac to open the former Bira migrant reception centre to accommodate more than a thousand migrants from the Lipa camp, which was shut down on Wednesday.
The migrants that stayed at the Lipa camp had no access to electricity, running water, or sewage. The camp also provided no adequate protection against winter weather conditions. That is why Bosnia's government, formally the Council of Ministers, approved on Monday an initiative to officially establish the temporary migrant camp ‘Lipa’, which would consist of adapted shipping containers able to house 1,500 migrants in the Bihac area.
RELATED NEWS
However, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the potential works in the camp cannot be conducted while the migrants are still there.
The BiH Security Ministry then asked authorities in the USK to reopen the Bira migrant reception centre which is located in the town of Bihac and was shut down in late September due to pressure from the local population.
As migrants were leaving Lipa on Wednesday, a fire broke out in the camp and destroyed most of the tents. According to the IOM, a group of migrants set it after most others already left.
Some 1,200 migrants from the camp are now left without shelter.
The USK Assembly said on Wednesday that the request to move the migrants to Bira in Bihac is “unacceptable” and asked the Council of Ministers to change its decision.
Security Minister Selmo Cikotic then sent a note to USK Prime Minister, Mustafa Ruznic, Bihac Mayor, Suhret Fazlic, and USK Deputy Assembly Speaker, Razim Halkic, regarding the matter, saying he understands the opposition of local institutions and locals to transferring the migrants to Bira.
“However, in light of the new situation, it is expected that all USK and Bihac officials understand that it in the best interest of the USK that they take an active role in implementing the decisions of the BiH Presidency, the BiH Council of Ministers, and the BiH Ministry of Security,” the minister’s note said.
Cikotic explained that his Ministry has put together a plan for the transfer of temporary migrant reception centres out of urban areas. The plan is to build a reception center for migrants at the ‘Lipa’ location, for which the Council of Ministers secured funds in the amount of 5,000,000 Bosnian Marks, as well as 500,000 Euros from the European Commission, while several embassies have promised concrete help in equipping the center.
However, the works on the camp could be completed in April 2021 and the Bira centre was proposed for the accommodation of the migrants until then, Cikotic’s note said, emphasizing that after that, the Bira centre should be shut down for good.
