After more than two weeks, about 200 illegal migrants have been provided with temporary accommodation in tents outside the village of Lipa near Bihac, northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina, local media reported on Saturday.

Bosnian army and Red Cross personnel are trying to find accommodation for several hundred more who have been freezing for days out in a snow-covered field.

Security Minister Selmo Cikotic visited the site on Saturday and, according to his cabinet, the work that has been done so far was satisfactory.

“Tents have been prepared, the heating solved, and other necessary things for the accommodation of these people will be done soon. This is a temporary and currently the best possible solution, given the difficult situation of migrants and refugees as well as the needs and safety of the local population,” said chief of the minister's cabinet, Senahid Godinjak.

Earlier this week, the army set up large tents for the migrants left without shelter after a makeshift reception centre run by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) was dismantled. More than 900 migrants were left without any care, spending days on the site of the former camp and expecting aid from local authorities and international organisations operating in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Red Cross has started delivering food, and the tent settlement at Lipa is expected to get electricity and water this weekend.

The government has decided to set up a permanent camp for migrants at Lipa, about 20 kilometres outside Bihac, and it is estimated that the camp will be equipped with container homes by the end of March.

According to government figures, slightly over 16,000 illegal migrants entered Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2020 and about 11,000 were turned back from the border with Serbia and Montenegro. Between 7,000 and 9,000 are estimated to be currently staying in the country. About two-thirds are staying at the migrant reception centres in northwestern Una-Sana Canton and the Sarajevo area, while others have sought shelter in abandoned properties and forests near the border with Croatia.