The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday that it had helped to build a 1,000-bed camp for homeless migrants in Bosnia and Herzegovina's Bihac city, which will be operating until the end of the COVID-19 pandemic
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th April, 2020) The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday that it had helped to build a 1,000-bed camp for homeless migrants in Bosnia and Herzegovina's Bihac city, which will be operating until the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"A 1,000-bed camp for homeless migrants has begun operating in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with IOM support. The new facility, in the northern city of Bihac will remain open for the duration of the COVID-19 Pandemic. When the virus began to hit the country an estimated 2,500 migrants had no access to official accommodation centers. Most were squatting in abandoned buildings, without any humanitarian assistance or, critical in COVID-19 times, adequate medical care," the statement said.
The new facility, which is expected to receive only single males who are being relocated by local police, will provide residents with basic humanitarian aid, including accommodation, food, hygiene, sanitation and medical care, according to the statement.
Moreover, all residents will be tested for COVID-19 upon arrival to the camp, where special isolation zones and quarantine spaces were set up to properly treat those showing coronavirus symptoms and avoid spreading the disease within the facility.
Though the Western Balkan migrant route leading from Greece through Macedonia and Serbia to Croatia was closed in 2016, migrants continue to cross into EU countries through a new Balkan route, increasing pressure on the reception capacities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and Montenegro.
Bosnia and Herzegovina has so far registered 1,565 COVID-19 cases and 60 fatalities. A total of 659 people have recovered from the disease.
