The originally planned relocation of around 500 homeless refugees and migrants from northwestern Bosnia to alternative quarters in the interior of the country is becoming increasingly uncertain. After protests by politicians and residents of the Konjic community, 45 kilometers southwest of Sarajevo, the departure of the refugees from the evacuated Lipa camp near Bihac was apparently stopped.
The buses that should have brought people to Konjic on Tuesday left yesterday afternoon without having achieved anything, as the Bosnian news portal Klix.ba reported. The migrants were left in the open air and left to their own devices. They had spent the night before on the buses that did not leave because of the protests in Konjic. The Bosnian government assigned them a former army barracks in the Bradina district as new accommodation.
As the regional Internet portal TV N1 reported, locals from Bradina blocked the barracks. Local politicians also opposed the decision to accommodate the refugees in the army’s facility. A statement by the government of the Herzegovina-Neretva canton, in which Bradina is located, quoted a statement from the government of the Herzegovina-Neretva canton, quoted.
One million euros in aid from Austria
In the meantime, Austria wants to provide one million euros for the care of refugees in Bosnia-Herzegovina. As the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced, the aid is to be used primarily to look after „women, children and unaccompanied minors“. The contribution should „be available in the next few days,“ it said.
“The situation has become extremely acute in the last few weeks. Due to the wintry conditions, we want to quickly make our contribution to improving living conditions ”, quoted the communication from ÖVP Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg.
