Red Cross Delivers Clothes, Food To Migrants Exposed To Elements In Bosnia
The migrants have faced freezing conditions.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has delivered clothes and food to hundreds of refugees and migrants exposed to falling temperatures and heavy snow after their tent camp in Bosnia-Herzegovina was destroyed by a fire.
The stranded migrants at the camp in northwest Bosnia have been without shelter after a fire destroyed much of the camp on December 23, the same day the site was due to be temporarily closed.
Since the fire at the camp, known as Lipa, Bosnian officials have failed to agree where to house the migrants and refugees.
Many of the migrants have attempted to shield themselves from the elements with only blankets and sleeping bags.
The Red Cross on December 28 delivered gloves, hats, and socks to the around 800 migrants and refugees at the Lipa camp. They were also given one hot meal.
Migrants In Bosnia Face Freezing Winter Without Shelter
1/15Migrants wait to be relocated during snowfall at the Lipa camp in northwestern Bosnia, near the border with Croatia on December 26.
The Lipa migrant camp near Bihac was almost entirely destroyed by a fire that broke out on December 23, with many former residents left with nowhere to go.
Hundreds of migrants at the Lipa camp in Bosnia-Herzegovina are stranded amid heavy snowfall after a fire destroyed much of the camp on December 23.
2/15Migrants walk through the snow at the burnt-out Lipa camp on December 26.
The temporary tent camp at Lipa was opened on April 21, and was intended for men only. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 1,359 migrants were housed at the camp.
Hundreds of migrants at the Lipa camp in Bosnia-Herzegovina are stranded amid heavy snowfall after a fire destroyed much of the camp on December 23.
3/15A policeman pushes migrants as they wait to be relocated at the Lipa camp on December 26. The camp was to be closed on December 23 and relocated. However, officials said the move had to be postponed since the camp was almost entirely destroyed in the fire.
Bosnia has become a bottleneck for thousands of migrants hoping to reach neighboring European Union member Croatia and then head toward other Western EU members.
Hundreds of migrants at the Lipa camp in Bosnia-Herzegovina are stranded amid heavy snowfall after a fire destroyed much of the camp on December 23.
4/15A migrant looks for belongings at the camp after the fire.
Lipa was a temporary reception center, but when local authorities in September 2020 closed another camp, Bira in Bihac, which could sleep around 3,000 people, about 300 people from Bira were sent to Lipa, which was already overcrowded. Bira was closed, according to local authorities, because the it posed a security and health risk.
Hundreds of migrants at the Lipa camp in Bosnia-Herzegovina are stranded amid heavy snowfall after a fire destroyed much of the camp on December 23.
7/15A resident walks through the snow at the camp. The fire in Lipa broke out after the IOM, due to the lack of a decision by the authorities on finding accommodation for migrants, began withdrawing from the camp on December 23. That left around 1,400 men stranded in a squalid, burnt-out tent camp in Bosnia as heavy snow fell.
Hundreds of migrants at the Lipa camp in Bosnia-Herzegovina are stranded amid heavy snowfall after a fire destroyed much of the camp on December 23.
8/15Migrants sit in a temporary shelter at the Lipa camp.
Despite the fire, Bosnian authorities have failed to find new accommodations for the migrants at Lipa. State officials blame local authorities for being unwilling to open the Bira camp again, so they could have time to prepare Lipa for the long-term housing of migrants.
Hundreds of migrants at the Lipa camp in Bosnia-Herzegovina are stranded amid heavy snowfall after a fire destroyed much of the camp on December 23.
11/15Since the beginning of 2017, Bosnia has faced a migrant crisis. There are five migrant centers: Miral and Sedra in the northwest, Usivak and Blazuj in the Sarajevo region, and Salakovac near Mostar in the south. According to the Security Ministry, there are around 10,000 migrants in Bosnia. Around 6,000 of them are in camps and reception centers, and an estimated 3,500 living on the street or in squats without adequate shelter.
Hundreds of migrants at the Lipa camp in Bosnia-Herzegovina are stranded amid heavy snowfall after a fire destroyed much of the camp on December 23.
13/15Bosnian Security Minister Selmo Cikotic said that his ministry had made a plan to relocate temporary reception centers for migrants from urban and populated areas.
"The plan is to build a reception center for migrants at the Lipa location, for which the Council of Ministers has provided 5,000,000 KM (256,000 euros) and 500,000 euros from the European Commission, while several embassies have promised concrete assistance in equipping the center," he said after the fire at Lipa.
In 2019, RFE/RL's Balkan Service marked 25 years of reporting in one of the world’s most contested regions, championing professionalism and moderation in a media landscape that is sharply divided along ethnic and partisan lines.
