The authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) should provide warm shelter to the refugees stranded near the northwestern village of Lipa on the border with Croatia after their camp was destroyed by a fire, a prominent rights group urged on Thursday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st January, 2021) The authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) should provide warm shelter to the refugees stranded near the northwestern village of Lipa on the border with Croatia after their camp was destroyed by a fire, a prominent rights group urged on Thursday.
On December 23, over 1,500 refugees lost their shelter in BiH after a migrant camp in Lipa was damaged by fire. The authorities refused to provide another accommodation to the affected refugees that suffered from low temperatures and agreed to transport only about 350 migrants who were able to pay the fare to a nearby camp in the capital of Sarajevo.
"Local, Federal, and national authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina should immediately take concerted urgent action to ensure that the migrants have access to winterized housing and the medical and other assistance they need," Human Rights Watch researcher Lydia Gall said.
The researcher added that hundreds of refugees faced tough challenges posed by harsh weather conditions due to the government's negligence.
"Hundreds of migrants and asylum seekers in northwest Bosnia are spending the winter in dire conditions because the authorities have repeatedly failed to address their basic needs," Gall said.
According to the European Commission, BiH has received about 70,000 refugees since 2018, and over 8,000 refugees are currently present in the country. The European Union provided 89 million Euros ($108 million) to BiH in a bid to improve the refugees' living standards. The bloc also assisted the country in overall migration management, but the living condition of refugees in BiH still leave much to be desired.
