EU praises Bosnia for improved migration management
ABC News
The European Union has praised the opening of a new migrant facility Friday in Bosnia, which had been criticized over the plight of migrants stranded in the dysfunctional Balkan country during their long trek to richer destinations
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina -- The European Union praised as a sign of progress the opening of a new migrant facility Friday in Bosnia, which had been criticized over the plight of migrants stranded in the dysfunctional Balkan country during their long trek to richer destinations.
The new, organized Lipa camp, in the northwestern Krajina region, can accommodate, screen and register up to 1,500 people, and includes safe zones for unaccompanied minors and vulnerable people.
It was erected in a remote, rural area where local authorities had forcibly moved last fall hundreds of people from overcrowded EU-funded, UN-run facilities in surrounding town centers due to the growing hostility of the local population.
“Eleven months ago, exactly, we were standing here, (in) the same location but completely different circumstances, in the middle of a humanitarian crisis,” Johann Sattler, the EU representative in Bosnia, said at the opening ceremony Friday. “Today we are here in this new multi-purpose reception center.”
