During the spring of 2020, near the town of Bihac, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Lipa Camp was established as an emergency accommodation for migrants and refugees. However, in December of the same year, the reception center was destroyed by a fire set up by some migrants. It happened after the announcement that the facility would have been closed for renovation works. As a result, today, with winter just around the corner, migrants are forced to face freezing temperatures, rain, and snow, trapped in an endless nightmare.
The so-called Western Balkan Route represents one of the main migratory paths into Europe. It became famous in 2015, when thousands of migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan started their journey to escape war, persecution, poverty, and unemployment. The Route begins in Turkey’s coastal towns, such as Izmir. It continues to the Greek cities of Athens and Thessaloniki, where migrants arrive by boat, or to the various migration hubs present in the Balkan countries, which can be reached by train, bus, or car.
Following the Lipa’s fire, about 1,000 migrants have been left with nothing. While local authorities have tried to relocate them, the growing feeling of hostility from part of the local population, who perceive migrants as a threat to security and public order, has stopped all the solutions put forward by the Government. Consequently, men, women, and children are currently with no shelter, lacking winter clothes and hot meals, and running water, electricity, medical support, and any other kind of basic service.
At the beginning of the year, the European Union decided to allocate about €28,5 million to manage the migration issue and provide proper humanitarian assistance to all individuals living around the Lipa Camp. Adequate long-term solutions must be developed to ensure humanity and dignity and show that these people have not been forgotten.
By Simone M. Russo