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By APD writer Melo M. Acuña
MANILA – The United Nations’ International Organization for Migration expressed serious concerns in Bosnia at the reported forcible transfer of large numbers of migrants to what has been described as “already overcrowded and dangerous accommodation centre.”
In a statement datelined Sarajevo and sent to media practitioners at 7:20 P.M. local time, IOM said the Vucjak center near Bihac on the Bosnia-Croatia border has been repeatedly criticized by various UN agencies as “inappropriate and inadequate for accommodating human beings” yet in recent days more than a thousand people have been forcibly transferred to the site by Bosnian police.
A joint UN Bosnia Country Team statement released recently said “significant safety and health risks at Vicjak, the local falls well short of international humanitarian standards.”
Peter Van Der Auweraert, IOM sub-regional coordinator of Western Balkans said the clock is ticking.
“With winter around the corner, humanitarian conditions for migrants in Bosnia and Herzegovina are getting dire for those staying outside the official accommodation centres,” he said.
Local officials say 150 people are arriving every night in Bihac, ready to attempt the risky crossing into EU member state Croatia. Their spokesman said the forced removal of as a measure “to regulate, as much as possible, the normal life of citizens and prevent any negative activities we have had from begging, vagrancy, criminal offences and burglaries of private buildings.”
The IOM statement added the Vucjak site is located close to areas infested by landmines, with a high risk of fire and explosions due to possible underground pockets of methane gas. The place also lacks electricity, running water and medical care and has very few sanitation facilities.
The declaration of the town executive of Bihac and the local Red Cross will stop all assistance to the migrants forcibly relocated to the Vucjak site was described in the UN statement as “especially alarming” as assistance was already insufficient before the latest group of migrants was transferred.
“This decision, if implemented, together with continued relocation efforts, risks a possible humanitarian emergency at the Vucjak site,” warned the United Nations. They also called on the authorities to identify, at the earliest possible time, alternate, safe and secure accommodation in accordance with national and international laws and obligations, humanitarian principles and practices, with the full guarantee of rights of migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
