Migrants ‘Stranded in Limbo’ at Bosnian Checkpoints

Migrants at a former military barracks in Bosnia, Photo: EPA/Fehim Demir.

Around 60 migrants and refugees, including families and several minors who have been travelling alone, have become stranded at checkpoints on the roads between the towns of Ribnik and Kljuc and between Novi Grad and Otoka, said the Red Cross of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The migrants were left stranded when the authorities in the Una-Sana Canton imposed strict restrictions on their freedom of movement. They are not allowed to travel by foot, on public transport or in taxis.

Campaign group Amnesty International on Tuesday described the restrictions as “disproportionate and discriminatory”.

“This decision to further limit the rights and freedoms of already marginalised people on the move is not only unlawful but potentially reckless,” said Amnesty International’s Balkans researcher Jelena Sesar.

“The authorities should be working to find solutions to accommodate and support several thousand people outside of official reception centres, rather than targeting them and leaving without protection,” Sesar added.

Some of the stranded migrants and refugees are sleeping in an improvised wooden hut by the road between Ribnik and Kljuc, built by the Red Cross with the help of locals.

However, there is not enough room for all of them in the hut. Around 30 of them have makeshift sleeping places next to the hut, while the rest sleep in the open air by the roadside. There are no toilets or washing facilities.

Some of them have been there for a few days and their number has been increasing, according to the Red Cross.

The Una-Sana Canton, in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Federation entity near the border with EU member Croatia, has been hardest hit by the migrant crisis because more migrants have ended up here as they seek to cross over into the EU.

Police checkpoints have been set up on roads at the entrance to the Una-Sana Canton to check vehicles, particularly buses, coming from the neighbouring Republika Srpska entity. All migrants who are found are taken out of the vehicles.

However, they cannot go back to Republika Srpska because a kilometre away, a checkpoint has been set up by the Republika Srpska police to prevent migrants from returning.

Milorad Dodik, the Serb member of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s tripartite presidency, said after the Una-Sana Canton introduced the movement ban that Republika Srpska would continue to transport migrants back to the entity’s demarcation line.

Shortly afterwards, the Republika Srpska police set up a police patrol on the entity’s demarcation line and on Monday afternoon, reinforcements from the Gendarmerie unit arrived at the checkpoint.

Nermina Cemalovic, the health minister in the Una-Sana Canton, claimed at a news conference on Monday afternoon that the number of migrants infected with the coronavirus was rising every day.

“We can’t control them because they move in groups of 100. They don’t follow any rules or norms and we have to think about protecting citizens,” Cemalovic said.

“If we leave them in camps then there will be a viral explosion, and if we let them out, then they will come in contact with citizens and endanger them,” she added.

In the absence of a state strategy for dealing with the issue, the main political parties in the country have continued to accuse each other of being to blame for the migrant crisis. Meanwhile, lower levels of government have been left to deal with the problem themselves.

Amnesty International warned that “Bosnia is facing an imminent humanitarian crisis” if the authorities at all levels do not find suitable facilities in all parts of the country to accommodate refugees and migrants.