XXXI. One and many Lipa. The shame of Europe
XXXI. One and many Lipa. The shame of Europe
The fire at Bosnia migrant camp was an announced tragedy and shows the EU responsibilities on the Balkan route. BarBalkans hosts the denounce by MEP Pierfrancesco Majorino
Hi,
welcome back to BarBalkans, the Italian newsletter whose aim is to give a voice to the Western Balkans’ stories, on the 30th anniversary of the Yugoslav Wars.
Exactly one month ago a fire destroyed Lipa migrant camp, in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Fifteen hundred people - human beings, before calling them migrants - were abandoned in the snow, on a plateau on the Croatian border.
An announced tragedy on the Western Balkans route that showing that responsibilities don’t lie only with Bosnia, but with all Europe.
If you are looking for an in-depth analysis of the Balkan route in Bosnia, with data and EU policies, I wrote it down for you on Eunews. Click on the image below to read it:
Framing an announced tragedy
It is not easy to talk about one of the biggest shame in Europe’s recent history.
To get a complete overview, I suggest you to read the reportage from Bihać by Elian Peltier and Joe Orovic for The New York Times.
A brief summary.
Lipa refugee camp, surroundings of Bihać, canton of Una Sana (North-West border with Croatia). On December 23 a fire broke out and devastated the shelter for 1,500 Pakistani, Afghan and Bangladeshi refugees.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) had announced that the center would be closed on December 23, on the same day. Lipa was an emergency tent camp, not suitable for the conditions of the Bosnian winter.
About 900 migrants are still in the burnt camp, where the local authorities set up temporary tents. The other 600 moved to other overpopulated camps.
The situation is still out of control.
But long ago, was already predicting the tragedy.
Officially, there are 7 refugee camps in Bosnia and Herzegovina managed by IOM, in addition to 2 State-managed reception centers in Salakovac and Delijas.
What are their conditions?
In Una Sana canton, around the city of Bihać, there are 4 temporary reception centers, as well as 1 emergency tent camp (Lipa, closed and now destroyed).
Sedra is occupied by 357 people, out of 430 places (the last official IOM figures available are dated October 2020), mainly families with children and unaccompanied minors.
Borici has 322 places available, out of 580. Electricity has just arrived, one year waiting for 30 meters of electric cable.
Miral has 700 places, all occupied. This is one of the closest camps to the Croatian border and several protests have taken place against the pushbacks.
Bira has 1,500 beds. The scandal is that the camp is free and it may host all the refugees that were in Lipa. Right now. But it was closed by the Bosnian authorities on September 30 and they still do not allow the reopening.
In Sarajevo canton there are the last 2 camps, but they are both overpopulated. Part of the displaced people from Lipa are heading right there.
In Ušivak there are 860 refugees, in a center with 800 places. In Blažuj the situation is critical: the capacity is 2,400 places, but 474 people in more live there.
To these centers, we have to add to the count the so-called “informal” camps, or jungle camps. They are born spontaneously on the Croatian border, in the woods, in abandoned industrial plants and in closed reception centers. Vučjak and Velika Kladuša are the largest.
We have to underline a peculiarity. Almost all the centers are in the north-western corner of Bosnia, in the Una Sana canton.
On their way along the Balkan route, the migrants try to get to Trieste railway station. This is the reason for their trajectory.
But looking at the map of Bosnia, a question arises immediately. Why does no one try to cross other parts of the northern border?
The other crossing point would be through the territory of Republika Srpska, one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Bosnian journalist Dragan Bursać is very clear:
«As terrifying it may sound, according to the official policy of president Milorad Dodik, the Republika Srpska is a ‘migrant free zone’».
It means that there are no migrant camps in Republika Srpska. And even if these people have to cross Banja Luka (the Serbian entity’s capital) to get to Bihać, they never stop there.
Migrants are pushed back to the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, because they are not allowed to stop in spontaneous camps. They are like ghosts.
«The situation is similar in other parts of Bosnia as well. The only difference is that in Republika Srpska getting rid of migrants and refusing to host them has almost become a political declaration».
EU’s shame
Let’s step back for a little while. This UNHCR map of migratory movements on the Balkan route in 2020 can help us to understand the presence of refugees in the region:
The migratory movements are estimated at over 50 thousand people a year across all the Balkan countries. In particular, North Macedonia, Serbia and Bosnia.
Looking at the data, Bosnia is not the most concerned country. With almost 16 thousand, it is behind Serbia (24 thousand) and far from North Macedonia (40 thousand).
However:
The migratory flow in North Macedonia is fairly rapid, because at the moment it is almost free of obstacles;
Serbia is a solid State, more or less able to manage the flow with about 20 refugee camps. Meanwhile, it is developing forms of deportation within its territory (from North to South), to keep the refugees away from the Croatian border;
(We will analyze soon the situation along the Western Balkans route in all the other non-EU states);
Bosnia and Herzegovina is a fragile, unstable and divided State. A country where the authorities are almost unable to face this wave, if they are not sufficiently supported from the outside.
Moreover, we do not have to forget that these thousands civilians have already entered the EU territory through Greece, before arriving in the Western Balkans.
The route to the heart of Europe forces them to exit and walk through North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia. And then they try to enter again from Bosnia to Croatia.
And now we have to deal with the European Union. To deal with ourselves. Us, the first-class Europeans.
The European Commission has put the blame on Bosnian authorities for the disaster in Lipa, insisting on the fact that economic assistance to Sarajevo has been provided (88 million euros, plus additional 3.5 million).
The situation is more complex than a mere economic issue.
First of all, how much EU funds have been spent? Since June 2018, IOM has received 76.85 million. At the end of December 2020, 51.56 million euros were already spent on humanitarian assistance, support for Bosnian institutions and the setting up of the seven reception centers. Almost two thirds of EU funds have been already spent.
Secondly, why should Bosnia manage the migratory flows that we do not want on EU soil? «In proportion to the number of inhabitants, the presence of refugees is much higher than in other countries», Bosnian prime minister Zoran Tegeltija noted. «We need more than only financial help from Europe».
Thirdly, the most serious issue. How can the European Union give lessons to Bosnia when it is co-responsible for illegal actions on the Bosnian-Croatian border and beyond?
On the Balkan route, every day The Game takes place.
Let’s do a recap of the rules of the “game”.
It starts in Bosnia and Herzegovina or Serbia, on the border with the fortress-Europe. The destination is Trieste railway station.
You win, if you manage to reach the station avoiding the Croatian, Slovenian and Italian law enforcement authorities.
If you are intercepted by the police, you are sent back from Italy to Slovenia, from Slovenia to Croatia, from Croatia to Bosnia or Serbia.
Pay attention. The Croatian border police officers will use violence, in order to punish those who tried to play and to dissuade anyone else who is tempted to try The Game.
These violences are illegal pushbacks by an EU country in the context of border management operations that prevent a refugee from accessing the territory and the international protection.
All the migrants on the Balkan route know The Game. 60/70% of the people who have tried, have “lost”: from May 2019, 22,550 refugees have been victims of violent pushbacks operated by the Croatian police officers.
On November 10, the European Ombudsperson, Emily O’Reilly, opened an inquiry against the EU Commission, focusing on how it ensures that the Croatian authorities respect fundamental rights in the context of border management operations.
There is more.
On the Slovenian and Italian borders, migrants still risk being rejected. Not through pushbacks, but through informal readmissions.
When the Italian police tracks down a migrant on the Slovenian border, they can automatically readmit them to Slovenia, even if they express the intention to ask for international protection.
Thanks to this agreement, Italy has readmitted 1,300 people to Slovenia since May 2020. Slovenia did the same to Croatia. We are talking about 10 thousand migrants.
National governments prevent asylum applications without issuing formal decisions, so that no one can appeal the decision. Italy’s internal affairs ministry was found by the Court of Rome to have violated the Italian Constitution and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
When it comes to migration routes, too many things inside and outside the European Union do not respect the rule of law.
Against the stream
But not everyone in Brussels is satisfied with the work on the EU migration policy. In the European Parliament many political groups are getting restless.
The Socialists & Democrats, the Greens, the Left and Renew Europe are not only opposing to the right-wing groups, but they are pressing the EU Commission to change its strategy and face the problems at the external borders.
Today, BarBalkans hosts the Italian MEP Pierfrancesco Majorino (S&D) with his insight.
Mr. Majorino, was Lipa a real announced tragedy?
“Yes, it was. For months the European Parliament has been receiving reports from journalists and NGOs, that work on the Bosnian-Croatian border. The situation for the people who are trying to walk along the last piece of the Balkan route is absolutely unacceptable.
This is the result of the EU migration policy, but also of some national governments’ actions. Croatia’s illegal and violent pushbacks and Italy’s informal readmissions to Slovenia, to prevent refugees from applying for asylum.
Meanwhile - at this very moment - thousands of people are sleeping in the snow. It is quite simple, in its brutality”.
The EU Commission is insisting that funds have already been provided to Bosnia for humanitarian aid. Can we reduce it to just a matter of money?
“I would brutally turn the reasoning of the EU Commission around. Is the situation unacceptable? Yes or no?
Because, if it is so, here in Brussels we have not done enough. Before considering the EU intervention, we have to look at the people. In Lipa there is an announced tragedy, a trampled dignity.
The funds may be enough or not, but it depends on what kind of intervention you want to carry out. I would like to understand how the Commission thought this money was spent and what kind of programming Bosnia did.
On this aspect, the European Union must be demanding towards Sarajevo, but also towards itself”.
What is not working in the EU strategy?
“Nothing is working actually.
Europe continues to conceive itself as a besieged fortress, to protect and externalize its borders to limit the alleged ‘damage’ of immigration.
We, the European Socialists & Democrats, have a different ideological, political and cultural approach. We believe that migration is the real life of many men, women and children: it seems unbelievable to have to say it out loud again.
This tragedy is taking place in the silent hypocrisy of too many people. It is necessary to intervene immediately, wasting no time. And we have to change radically the EU migration policy”.
How do you feel about it?
“I’m concerned. Because the EU Commission’s strategy risks formalizing and replicating this model. It is not enough to «overcome the Dublin Regulation», because it can even worsen.
On migration policy, Europe is not showing the same ambition and innovation as on the Next Generation EU. It is too focused on rejecting migrants at the external borders and it does not address the issue of sharing the responsibility of reception.
In Bosnia we can see all the wrong choices taken at European level. We have to rebuild a moral dimension and we, as MEPs, can intervene”.
How?
“In February 2020 an MEP delegation went to Una Sana canton. We are preparing another delegation, which will soon return to Bosnia.
We have to use the European Parliament as a sounding board, continuing to highlight this issue, as we did in the last plenary session. Secondly, the New Pact on Migration and Asylum should be rejected until it will be changed”.
Pit stop. Sittin’ at the BarBalkans
We have reached the end of this piece of road.
Let’s say goodbye with the images of the humanitarian aids brought in these days to the refugees in Lipa.
Not only food, blankets, shoes and firewood, but also hot tea.
A symbol of fight against the cold of the Bosnian winter. And the symbol of hope that the consciences will finally awaken in Europe.
Let’s continue the BarBalkans journey. We’ll meet again in a week, for the 32nd stop.
A big hug and have a good journey!
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