The European Union will allocate 3.5 million euros for humanitarian aid to migrants in Bosnia and Herzegovina, following a fire that recently destroyed a migrant camp there. According to Johann Sattler, the European envoy to the country, the situation of the camp’s residents is “completely unacceptable”.
The money is intended to “provide assistance to vulnerable refugees and migrants facing a humanitarian disaster in Bosnia”. It is in addition to the 4.5 million euros that Bosnia was allocated from Brussels in April last year, the European Commission reports in a statement on Sunday.
Since a fire on December 23 destroyed the migrant camp near the Bosnian town of Bihac, thousands of migrants have been left without proper shelter in cold and rainy weather. “The situation is unacceptable. Accommodation suitable for winter is indispensable for human living conditions, which must be guaranteed at all times,” said EU foreign chief Josep Borrell in the statement.
Borrell insists that the camp be rebuilt and that the local authorities meanwhile provide temporary shelter for the homeless migrants.
The European Commission, which provides funding for several migrant camps in Bosnia, has called for a new shelter to be opened in Bihac. However, local and regional authorities oppose this. For example, in October a reception center in an abandoned factory was closed under pressure from local residents.
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