Bosnia: Another 1,200 migrants to join those without shelters

A total of 1,200 migrants were obliged to sleep rough in the tough winter after their camp in northwestern Bosnia was set on fire, probably by migrants displeased with its temporary closure, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on 23 december. 

The Lipa camp, located at Bihac city, “never got connected to the main water or electricity supply, and was never winterized. And now, with this fire, it never will be,” IOM Chief of Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina said.

The camp was closed for repairs and no alternative shelter was provided for the displaced migrants.  “I couldn’t sleep last night, I sat all night,” Bylal from Pakistan told Reuters.

The migrants will join about 1,500 others sleeping rough in cold weather. “The lack of immediate solution raises the overall number of people in dire need of humanitarian aid [in Bosnia] to almost 3,000,” IOM warns.

TMP_29/12/2020

Photo credit: Ajdin Kamber

Photo caption: Bihac, Bosnia and Herzegovina 21 Dec 2020: Refugee camp Lipa. More than 1200 migrants living under the tents in western Bosnia. Balkan route.