immigration

In mid-June, the authorities in the city of Bihać in Bosnia and Herzegovina began transferring hundreds of refugees from the heart of the city to the Viciac camp, which is about 8 kilometers from the city center. The decision, which sparked controversy in the country and among humanitarian organizations, was taken after residents of the city demonstrated, refusing to receive refugees there, and since then the Ministry of Interior began the process of transferring them to the camp. Some residents of Bihać, which has a Muslim majority, say that migrants and refugees pose a "danger to the city." One resident, speaking to Euronews, said: “They (the refugees) leave waste everywhere and they are very dangerous.” Bihać is located in the northwest of the country, about 1,000 kilometers from the border with Croatia, which has closed its borders to refugees. Naveed Hussain (21 years old), a Pakistani, believes that he has become stuck with about 500 other people between Croatia and the city. Speaking to Euronews, Hussein says with some resignation: “We can no longer go to Croatia or return to Bihać, and here in the camp we do not have electricity and life is very difficult.” Refugees try to make their way towards the European Union, but they encounter Croatian or Bosnian police from time to time, and they say they resort to violence to repel them. Ali Butt (26 years old), a Pakistani refugee, also told Euronews that the police stopped him while he was trying to cross the Croatian border and “beat him with batons, punched him, and took his money and phone.” The local authorities did not respond to Euronews' request to comment on the decision to transfer refugees to the camp, which Amnesty International considered posed a clear danger to the health of migrants and refugees. The Vicijak camp is located on the European Union's external borders, in a mountainous area between Bosnia and Croatia, where police patrols are conducted almost constantly to monitor the borders. Brussels faces difficulty in dealing with refugees stranded on the bloc's external borders, and the European Commission says it needs greater coordination with the Balkan countries in order to ensure the security of the European Union on the one hand, and manage the refugee situation on the other. Also on Euronews: A new agreement between Italy and the European Union puts an end to the dispute over African migrants An immigrant child at the US border was given a choice between her parents before one of them was deported