#bosnie

Réfugiés : #violences et #chaos dans le nord-ouest de la Bosnie-Herzégovine
Traduit et adapté par Manon Rumiz (Article original : ▻https://www.balcanicaucaso.org/aree/Bosnia-Erzegovina/Migranti-caos-Bosnia-204594)

Squats démantelés, familles déportées et laissées sans aide au bord de la route, violentes manifestations anti-migrants.... Dans le canton d’Una-Sana (nord-ouest de la Bosnie-Herzégovine), la situation des réfugiés devient toujours plus dramatique.

« C’est le chaos. » Voilà comment Silvia Maraone, qui coordonne les activités de l’ONG italienne Ipsia (▻https://www.facebook.com/IPSIA.BIH) à #Bihać, résume la situation actuelle dans le canton d’#Una_Sana, explosive depuis le milieu de l’été. « Les conditions imposées par le gouvernement local n’offrent plus de répit à personne. Même les familles, les femmes et les enfants n’ont plus accès aux #camps officiels. Quant aux transports en commun, ils sont désormais interdits aux réfugiés, ce qui permet aux trafiquants de faire des affaires encore plus lucratives. »

Dans le même temps, la police expulse les #squats et tous les #camps_informels, renvoyant les réfugiés hors des frontières du canton. La population locale, de son côté, manifeste ouvertement son hostilité face à la présence massive de candidats à l’exil. Les agressions verbales et physiques se multiplient, ainsi que les attaques contre les volontaires.

“Le canton d’Una Sana est plus que jamais le #cul-de-sac de la route des Balkans.”

Du fait de la #pandémie et de la proclamation de l’#état_d’urgence, la situation s’est encore détériorée depuis le printemps. Les camps officiels, déjà pleins, n’accueillent plus de nouveaux entrants alors mêmes que les arrivées ont repris depuis la réouverture des frontières au mois de juin. Le canton d’Una Sana est plus que jamais le cul-de-sac de la route des Balkans, d’autant qu’à l’ouest, le jeu de domino entre les polices italienne, slovène et croate se poursuit, aboutissant au #refoulement des migrants interceptés dans cette zone frontalière de l’Union européenne.

La seule réponse apportée par les autorités locales a été l’ouverture, en avril, d’un « #camp_d’urgence » à Lipa, entre Bihać et #Bosanski_Petrovac, dont le millier places a vite été rempli. Les squats se sont donc multipliés dans les #friches_industrielles et dans les bois. De toute façon, les migrants ne souhaitent pas rester ici et le « #game » continue : chaque jour, ils sont des centaines à tenter de déjouer la surveillance de la frontière croate avec l’espoir de ne pas être arrêté avant d’avoir atteint l’Italie.

Le début du « chaos » qu’évoque Silvia Maraone remonte à la mi-juillet, avec l’expulsion du camp de fortune qui s’était créé à l’entrée de #Velika_Kladuša, près du camp officiel de #Miral, le long de la rivière #Kladušnica. Officiellement, l’opération a été déclenchée à cause des plaintes répétées des riverains. Début août, la police est revenue pour chasser les migrants qui avaient reconstitué un nouveau camp.

« #Milices_citoyennes »

Quelques jours plus tard, le maire de Bihać, #Šuhret_Fazlić, déclarait que la situation était aussi devenue insoutenable dans sa commune. « Cela n’a jamais été pire qu’aujourd’hui. Chaque jour, nous assistons à l’arrivée d’un flux incontrôlé de migrants. Il y en a déjà des milliers qui campent un peu partout. Une fois de plus, on nous laisse seuls », avant de conclure, menaçant : « Nous sommes prêts à prendre des mesures radicales ». Ce n’est pas la première fois que le maire de Bihać tire la sonnette d’alarme. Début 2018, au tout début de la crise, l’édile déplorait déjà le manque de soutien des autorités de la Fédération, l’entité croato-bosniaque dont dépend le canton, et nationales. À l’automne 2019, Silvia Maraone s’inquiétait aussi : « La situation ne fera qu’empirer dans les mois qui viennent si de nouveaux camps officiels ne sont pas ouverts d’urgence ».

Selon les chiffres officiels, plus de 80% des réfugiés présents sur le sol bosnien se concentreraient dans le seul canton d’Una Sana. « Il sont plus de 5000, dont à peine la moitié hébergés dans des centres d’accueil officiels. Les autres dorment dans des bâtiments détruits ou dans les bois en attendant de tenter le game », poursuit Silvia Maraone. Ces dernières semaines, la population de Velika Kladuša a organisé des manifestations hebdomadaires contre la présence de migrants. Organisées sur les réseaux sociaux, ces rassemblements réunissent des habitants venus de tout le canton.

Pire, des #milices citoyennes ont commencé à se mettre en place pour refouler les migrants. « Dans certains groupes Facebook, des membres signalent les plaques des véhicules qui transportent des migrants », observe Silvia Maraone. « Des routes ont même été bloquées, des pierres et des bâtons jetés sur les véhicules. » Ce n’est pas tout. « Des citoyens ont attaqué des migrants en pleine rue, tandis que les volontaires leur venant en aide se sont faits dénoncer à la police. » Le 17 août, les forces de l’ordre ont dû intervenir à Velika Kladuša où des dizaines de riverains s’étaient massés et avaient attaqué un bus où se trouvaient des migrants.

Pour justifier de telles actions coup de poing, on trouve la rhétorique habituelle de l’extrême-droite complotiste : la prétendue violence de ces migrants et la menace qu’ils feraient peser pour la sécurité de la population locale. Des arguments balayés par les statistiques officielles, mais qui font mouche auprès de Bosniens fatigués par des décennies de divisions, de corruption et de misère.

Deux jours après la violente manifestation du 17 août à Velika Kladuša, la cellule de crise du canton d’Una-Sana a décrété des mesures très dures : l’évacuation de tous les migrants vivant hors des structures d’accueil officielles, perquisition dans tous les lieux privés offrants des services aux migrants, interdiction de quitter les camps officiels, d’utiliser les transports en commun et d’entrer dans le canton pour tous les migrants. Des postes de contrôle ont aussi été mis en place sur les routes d’accès au canton.

“Ils ont tout brûlé, vêtements, téléphones portables, sacs à dos. Ils nous ont frappés avec des matraques.”

« Les personnes expulsées des squats n’ont pas toutes pu être accueillies au camp de #Lipa et ont été refoulées en #Republika_Srpska (l’autre entité de Bosnie-Herzégovine) », dénonce Silvia Maraone. « Même les familles avec enfants sont abandonnées sans aucune aide. » Ces restrictions à la #liberté_de_mouvement violent les #droits_humains fondamentaux, comme l’a dénoncé Amnesty International dans un communiqué, le 25 août. Le réseau Transbalkanska Solidarnost (►https://transbalkanskasolidarnost.home.blog) demande aux autorités locales et aux organisations internationales de « mettre fin à la politique du silence », de condamner publiquement ces pratiques illégales, de poursuivre les responsables et d’assurer un accueil digne et sûr aux migrants.

Transbalkanska Solidarnost a recueilli plusieurs #témoignages sur ces expulsions, dont celles de l’ONG No Name Kitchen à Bosanska Otoka. « Nous dormions dans une ancienne usine abandonnée près de Bihać quand la police est arrivée. Il devait y avoir 20 ou 25 policiers. Ils ont tout brûlé, vêtements, téléphones portables, sacs à dos. Ils nous ont frappés avec des matraques, puis nous ont expulsés ici où nous sommes sans nourriture, sans rien. Je me suis échappé d’Afghanistan pour me sauver et là je retrouve cette violence... Pourquoi ?! », se désole A., 16 ans. Selon les chiffres des associations, plus de 500 réfugiés se sont retrouvés bloqués sur la ligne de démarcation entre les deux entités bosniennes, personne ne voulant les prendre en charge.

Malgré les menaces qui se font toujours plus fortes, les réseaux de #volontaires continuent de venir en aide aux migrants : distribution de produits de première nécessité, de vêtements et signalement des violences et des violations des droits. « Ce n’est pas facile », reconnaît Silvia Maraone. « Tout le monde vous regarde mal et ceux que vous aidez sont détestés… Nous restons prudents. » Son ONG, Ipsia ; intervient toujours dans le camp de Bira, géré par l’#Organisation_internationale_pour_les_migrations (#OIM) où elle gère le Café social et prépare un projet plus vaste, soutenu par des fonds européens, pour développer des activités, hors des camps, visant à améliorer les relations entre migrants et population locale. Il y a urgence. « Jamais le bras-de-fer avec le reste de la Bosnie n’a été aussi tendu. »

▻https://www.courrierdesbalkans.fr/refugies-chaos-dans-le-nord-ouest-de-la-bosnie-herzegovine

#asile #migrations #réfugiés #Bosnie #Bosnie-Herzégovine #Balkans #route_des_Balkans #camps_de_réfugiés #campements #IOM #extrême_droite #solidarité

–-> « Quant aux transports en commun, ils sont désormais interdits aux réfugiés, ce qui permet aux trafiquants de faire des affaires encore plus lucratives »
#ségrégation #transports_publics #transports_en_commun #apartheid

–-> « l’#Organisation_internationale_pour_les_migrations (#OIM) gère le Café social et prépare un projet plus vaste, soutenu par des fonds européens, pour développer des activités, hors des camps, visant à améliorer les relations entre migrants et population locale. Il y a urgence. »
En fait, ce qu’il faudrait faire c’est ouvrir les frontières et laisser ces personnes bloquées en Bosnie, où elles n’ont aucune intention de rester, de partir...

ping @karine4 @isskein

The first cases of COVID-19 among the migrant population in BIH, in the #Bira camp, were also confirmed (balkans.aljazeera.net/video/bay-o-zdravstvenom-nadzoru-migranata-u-bih). Organizations working in the camps are trying to keep the situation under control, but there is always the possibility of spreading of the infection among the migrant population.

Reçu via la mailing-list Inicijativa Dobrodosli, mail du 04.09.2020

#réfugiés #asile #migrations #covid-19 #coronavirus #Bosnie #Bosnie-Herzégovine #route_des_Balkans #Balkans #camps_de_réfugiés

ping @luciebacon @isskein

Bosnie : à pied, en taxi ou en bus, les migrants n’ont plus le droit de se déplacer - InfoMigrants
▻https://www.infomigrants.net/fr/post/26901/bosnie-a-pied-en-taxi-ou-en-bus-les-migrants-n-ont-plus-le-droit-de-se

https://scd.infomigrants.net/media/resize/my_image_big/9b557fd77f8ccdd62cbca358d8e0bbef1f034fcc.jpeg

Dans le nord de la Bosnie, sur la route migratoire des Balkans, les exilés sont depuis le 19 août sous le coup d’une interdiction de circuler, contraints de se cacher de la police et de milices qui se sont formées pour les chasser. Le gouvernement local invoque de nombreuses contaminations au coronavirus parmi les migrants. Amnesty international dénonce une mesure « discriminatoire » et « dangereuse ». Impossible de continuer leur route vers l’Europe ni même de sortir de leurs squats et autres refuges de fortune : depuis un peu plus d’une semaine, les migrants se trouvant dans le nord de la Bosnie dans l’attente de pénétrer dans l’Union européenne (UE) sont dans l’impasse. Les autorités locales du canton d’Una-Sana, frontalier avec la Croatie, membre de l’UE, ont imposé d’importantes restrictions de mouvements aux quelques milliers de migrants sans-abri de cette région. Il leur est désormais interdit de se déplacer à pied, en taxi et même via les transports en commun. Cette décision radicale, Nermina Cemalovic, ministre de la Santé d’Una-Sana, la justifie par le nombre grandissant, dit-elle, de migrants contaminés par le coronavirus dans le canton. « Nous ne pouvons pas les contrôler, ils se déplacent par dizaines. Ils ne suivent aucune règle et nous nous devons de protéger nos concitoyens », a-t-elle déclaré lors d’une conférence de presse lundi 24 août. « Si nous les mettons tous dans les camps, il va y avoir une explosion du nombre de contaminations. Et si nous les laissons dehors, ils vont entrer en contact avec les habitants et les mettre en danger », a-t-elle ajouté sans fournir de solution. Contraints de se cacher, les migrants, eux, attendent un revirement de situation dans la peur ou bien tentent de traverser la frontière par eux-mêmes, se heurtant à de violents refoulements des autorités croates. Selon Amnesty international, la police locale d’Una-Sana n’hésite pas non plus à organiser des descentes dans des squats ou des habitations privées où seraient logés des migrants afin de les expulser de force, sans proposition d’hébergement. Ceux se trouvant dans les camps de migrants du canton sont aussi bloqués, ne pouvant pas se déplacer librement à l’extérieur sans risquer d’être interpellés

#Covid-19#migrant#migration#bosnie#balkan#croatie#routemigratoire#discrimination#contamination#sante#politiquemigratoire#frontiere#logement

Region in northwestern Bosnia sets up roadblocks to deter migrants

Authorities in northeastern Bosnia have deployed police officers along a main transit highway to prevent migrants from entering their territory. The migrants are finding themselves trapped as neighboring regions are blocking them from walking back too.

The local authorities in Krajino, in the northwestern part of Bosnia, have begun enforcing their decision to ban all new migrant arrivals and have set up roadblocks to prevent migrants who are headed to western Europe from entering their territory. The Krajino authorities allege that they are bearing the brunt of ongoing migration and that other parts of the country are failing to step in and help out.

The deployment of police and the order to turn back all the migrants they encounter is an apparent violation of Bosnia’s human rights and immigration laws, AP reports.

The roadblocks are set up on the main highway connecting Krajina to the rest of the country. Police in neighboring administrative regions of Bosnia in turn started blocking migrants from walking back, reports AP.
Ali Razah, a Pakistani migrant, is one of hundreds trapped in the middle. He told AP that various police units had blocked him and other migrants from moving in any direction. “There is no food, no water, nothing and we are staying on the grass,” he said.

https://scd.infomigrants.net/media/resize/my_image_big/26dbc3a5fa20d4285e48d4cf8ef5414433862117.jpeg

Anti-migrant protests

The Krajino region, on the border with Croatia, is a major transit point for migrants and refugees who aim to reach the European Union. The two towns Bihac and Velika Kladusa with their refugee and migrant camps are located in the region’s northwestern corner and have become a bottleneck for migrants — as Croatian authorities have sealed the border to the EU-member state and are reported to conduct pushbacks across the border using violence against the migrants.

Recently, local residents of Velika Kladusa have repeatedly staged anti-migrant protests, accusing migrants of assaults and violence against the local population. On Monday August 17, hundreds of people reportedly blocked a road near a migrant reception center, complaining of harassment and increasing misbehavior by migrants in the city. The residents claim that cases of aggression and intimidation by migrants had multiplied, and that migrants from rival groups often fought or set fire to warehouses or dilapidated buildings where they they were staying.

There are about 1,300 irregular migrants in Velika Kladusa, according to estimates by the authorities reported in the media, many of whom are sleeping rough in the surrounding area. In northwestern Bosnia-Herzegovina along the Croatian border there are more than 7,000 migrants, according to ANSA.

https://scd.infomigrants.net/media/resize/my_image_big/652057bb3d30c9a3e4abbdd079437e27defc6958.jpeg

Political infighting

Most migrants enter Bosnia across the Drina River on the eastern border with Serbia. From there, they cross the country to reach Krajina.

Bosnia since 1995 has been split along ethnic lines into two highly autonomous parts - the Serb-run Republika Srpska and the Bosniak-Croat Federation. Local authorities in Krajina have long accused Bosnia’s central government of not doing enough to resolve the crisis in Bosnia and of using the migration issue to fuel political infighting.

So far, the Bosnian Serb hard-line leader Milorad Dodik has blocked efforts to deploy the army along the border with Serbia to stem the arrival of migrants, AP writes, and he is said to have used the migration issue to promote his Serbian-first position. He has repeatedly pressed for Serbs to separate from multi-ethnic Bosnia and unite with Serbia. Dodik refused to accommodate any migrants in the country’s autonomous Serb-run half and instead pushed them into Krajina.

https://scd.infomigrants.net/media/resize/my_image_big/3762474e4a39ed56fd00b46b5f78dc9436222605.jpeg

’Closing borders is not a solution’

Migrant aid groups working on the ground, however, stress that local authorities lack the willingness for practical solutions too. “The big problem is that we do not see a willingness from the different governments – international, national or local – to make a solution, to sit together with different groups and try to find a way to make the situation less hard for everyone,” a member of the NGO ’No Name Kitchen’ which helps migrants and refugees in Bosnia and Serbia told the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIRN), reported the BalkanInsight, in light of growing tensions towards migrants.

“Opening camps and closing borders is not a solution,” they told BIRN. “It is just a patch. So we have people in transit who have nowhere to go, no tents, no blankets… If they try to reach an EU country, it is common that they get pushed back and normally with violence. Camps paid for by EU money are full and renting a house is not allowed. At the same time, locals are exhausted,” ’No Name Kitchen’ told BIRN.

▻https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/26832/region-in-northwestern-bosnia-sets-up-roadblocks-to-deter-migrants

#militarisation_des_frontières #asile #migrations #réfugiés #Balkans #route_des_Balkans #frontières #Bosnie #barrages_routiers #fermeture_des_frontières #Krajino

No Name Kitchen (https://www.facebook.com/NoNameKitchenBelgrade/posts/1035509443514006) is reporting on a refugee protest against the Slovenian government and police that began on Wednesday within the Detention Center for Foreigners in #Postojna. Dozens of men are currently located there, men who have previously spent months in Velika Kladuša and have suffered police violence and denials of their right to seek asylum. Now in Slovenia, they are detained in an abandoned industrial building in very bad conditions, while the Slovenian police is rejecting their asylum claims and pushing them back in Croatia, violating their human rights and proclaiming them “economic migrants”. Last week we reported on the ruling of the Slovenian Administrative court thematizing the right to seek asylum, for a more detailed analysis of the case in question read the article in Balkan Insight.

https://i.imgur.com/fnpMkXH.jpg

–-> message reçu via la mailing-list Inicijativa Dobrodosli, mail du 06.08.2020

–---

Texte du post sur FB:

These images are sent to us showing an ongoing protest within the Detention Center for Foreigners in Postojna, Slovenia and they ask everybody to spread the information.
These men, many of whom have spent months in #Velika_Kladusa (the city where No Name Kitchen works), in terrible conditions and suffering #violence from #police in every attempt to get to the European Union to seek asylum (and after a long journey that sometimes last year), have arrived to Slovenia only to face more threats of push-backs and arbitrary selection processes.
They are protesting the news that they will be returned to Croatia in the next days and asked for our help to share this news
It should be understood that this situation is situated in the midst of a broader reorientation of Slovenia’s push-back processes to Croatia. Increasingly, in the last weeks we have heard of people being taken out of state-run centers and returned to Croatia whereupon they are pushed back to Bosnia. Once again, let’s remember that these processes are illegal according to European legislation. In the video, people clearly shout that they want asylum to show clearly that they are asking for their protection demand to be processed, as it shoud be done by law.
Our friends and colleagues at Infokolpa
- based in Slovenia - are working to put together more detailed information about these cases to be shared within the next days. They remind us that for those who succeed in crossing the Schengen border, people find themselves in facilities that are comparable if not worse than camps like #Miral (paid by EU money) in Bosnia.
Remember that if these people return to Bosnia, they will be locked up there again for who knows how long, and with the possibility of suffering strong violence and robbery every time they decide to try again to reach the European Union to search the asylum that they are asking for now, and that is being denied to them.

#push-back #push-backs #refoulements #asile #migrations #réfugiés #frontière_sud-alpine #Alpes #Slovénie #Croatie #frontières #protestation #résistance #Bosnie #Balkans #route_des_Balkans

ping @isskein

Bosnie-Herzégovine : un migrant tué près de la frontière croate

3 juillet 2020 - 12h : Un migrant a été tué le 2 juillet alors qu’il essayait de traverser la frontière croate près de #Kulen_Vakuf, en Bosnie-Herzégovine, a confirmé la police du canton d’#Una-Sana. « Des habitants de Kulen Vakuf ont informé la police locale qu’un groupe de migrants portaient un homme blessé. Les policiers et l’équipe médicale ont déclaré que l’homme est malheureusement mort de ses blessures, causées par une #arme_à_feu. La blessure fatale était localisée dans le dos de la victime, provenant probablement d’un #fusil », explique Ale Šiljdedić, porte-parole de la police du canton d’Una-Sana.

Selon les médias locaux, l’identité de la victime et des personnes qui le transportaient est pour le moment inconnue. Selon eux, ces personnes utilisaient les services du camp de réfugiés de Lipa et auraient essayé de passer en Croatie près de Kulen Vakuf.

►https://www.courrierdesbalkans.fr/Les-dernieres-infos-Refugies-Balkans-Bosnie-Herzegovine-un-nouvea

#asile #migrations #réfugiés #décès #morts #Bosnie #Bosnie-Herzégovine #Croatie #Balkans #route_des_Balkans

Ajouté à la métaliste sur les morts à la frontière sud-alpine :
►https://seenthis.net/messages/758646#message806449

Histoire • Xavier Bougarel : La division Handschar. Waffen SS de Bosnie - Le Courrier des Balkans
▻https://www.courrierdesbalkans.fr/Histoire-o-Xavier-Bougarel-La-division-Handschar

https://www.courrierdesbalkans.fr/local/cache-gd2/2e/e0bafbc9b5bb1f95a001b468f27ba1.jpg?1592817904

La 13e division SS Handschar, créée en 1943, est une troupe musulmane originaire de Bosnie-Herzégovine. Recrutée par les Allemands, elle regroupe des Bosniaques chargés de lutter contre les partisans yougoslaves. Une fois entraînés sur le territoire français, ces combattants sont déployés dans les campagnes de Bosnie et contribuent aux plus grandes violences et exactions perpétrées contres les populations civiles durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Pour la première fois, un ouvrage va au-delà des clichés qui président à l’histoire de cette division.

Xavier Bougarel, grand connaisseur des archives locales, s’intéresse aux motifs réels de la création de cette division #SS, au profil et aux motivations de ses combattants, à la vie religieuse en son sein, aux formes de son engagement contre les #partisans de #Tito, et aux raisons de sa dislocation finale. Ce faisant, il propose aussi une nouvelle lecture de la #SecondeGuerreMondiale dans les #Balkans, marquée par l’importance des enjeux matériels, la multiplicité des stratégies individuelles de survie, et les changements incessants d’alliance et d’allégeance politiques et militaires.

Diplômé de l’Institut d’études politiques de Paris en 1990, Xavier Bougarel est chercheur au CNRS. De septembre 2013 à août 2016, il a été affecté au Centre Marc Bloch à Berlin pour mener des recherches en archives sur la 13e division SS « #Handschar ».

#musulman #france #WWII #livre

Bosnian Leader Alija Izetbegovic: From Prisoner to President | War | Al Jazeera

After Yugoslavia fell apart in the early 1990s and descended into a bitter regional conflict, Alija Izetbegovic fought for the survival of his country and people.

The first president of the independent Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Izetbegovic was no stranger to controversy and had served five years of a 14-year prison sentence in the 1980s.

This two-part documentary series uses interviews with members of his family and major regional figures as well as archive footage and reconstruction to tell the chequered history of this part of the Balkans through Izetbegovic’s eyes.

▻https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/aljazeeraworld/2020/06/bosnian-leader-alija-izetbegovic-prisoner-president-200624081832879.html

https://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/Images/2020/6/25/94354fd0467c43968acc3480da7759cd_18.jpg

#Alija_Izetbegovic #BosnieHerzegovine #documentaire #balkans

THE DARK SIDE OF EUROPEANISATION. Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the European Border Regime

While the external borders of the European Union have remained largely closed for people on the move since 2016, the two neighbouring states, Serbia, and Bosnia & Herzegovina, have become the main transit countries in Southeast Europe, with migrations taking place in a clandestine manner, often back and forth and exposed to brutal border pushbacks. Examining migration movements, policies, public discourses and struggles in the Balkans between the summer of migration in 2015 and the pandemic crisis in 2020, this study provides an analysis of the impact of the EUropean border and migration regime in the region, which has become a #buffer_zone for people on the move. Tracing the complex interplay of EU, state and local institutions, it offers insight into how policies of the securitisation and militarisation of the EU’s external borders are intertwined with the region’s EU accession process.

https://www.rosalux.rs/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/images/publications/MITROVIC_Dark_Sides_of_EU.jpg?itok=AaUwih14#.jpg

▻https://www.rosalux.rs/en/dark-side-europeanisation
#rapport #border_regime #Bosnie #Balkans #Serbie #migrations #asile #réfugiés #frontières #frontières_extérieures #transit #Europe #EU #UE #militarisation #sécurisation #militarisation_des_frontières

ping @luciebacon @isskein

Réfugiés en Bosnie-Herzégovine : à la frontière croate, le « game » a repris

Bloqués depuis la mi-avril par les mesures de confinement liés à la pandémie, les candidats à l’exil sont de plus en plus nombreux à reprendre la route de Bihać pour tenter de passer en Croatie puis se diriger vers l’Europe occidentale. Malgré les violences, les humiliations et les actes de torture commis par la police, dénoncés par Amnesty international.

« Je vais en Italie. J’ai fait 100 km à pied pour arriver ici », raconte Velid, un Afghan. Trois jours plus tôt, il est parti du camp de Blažuj, près de Sarajevo, afin d’essayer de passer la frontière croate par Bihać, dans le nord-ouest de la Bosnie-Herzégovine. Velid dort dans des bâtiments abandonnés en attendant de tenter le « game ». « Je n’ai rien à boire ni à manger. Les conditions de logement sont mauvaises, sans eau, ni électricité. On a essayé d’aller dans un camp officiel, mais les gens de la sécurité nous disent qu’il n’y a pas de place pour nous. ». Velid est accompagné d’Abdul Samed, lui aussi venu de Blažuj avec l’objectif de rallier l’Italie.

Muhamed Husein est Pakistanais. Il y a trois semaines, il logeait au camp Lipa, à 30 km de Bihać. Il a fini dans les locaux désaffectés de Krajinametal après avoir échoué à passer la frontière croate. « Nous sommes arrivés dans ce bâtiment. Nous n’avons pas d’eau, pas de chaussures. Le camp de Lipa est plein et de nouvelles personnes arrivent. Quand on essaie de pénétrer en Croatie, la police nous attrape et nous reconduit à la frontière. Mais nous, on veut aller en Italie. »

Suite à l’assouplissement des mesures de lutte contre la pandémie, l’arrivée de réfugiés et de migrants sur le territoire du canton d’Una-Sana (USK) est en forte hausse. Selon les informations de la police locale, ces dix derniers jours, 1500 à 2000 nouveaux réfugiés et migrants seraient entrés dans le canton. « Chaque jour, entre 100 et 150 nouveaux migrants en moyenne arrivent dans notre canton en autocar, depuis Sarajevo, Tuzla et Banja Luka », confirme Ale Šiljededić, porte-parole de la police de l’USK. « Comme nous avons pu nous en assurer lors de nos contrôles, certains ont des cartes de camps en activité en Bosnie-Herzégovine, plus précisément à Sarajevo, ce qui signifie qu’ils en partent librement, sans le moindre contrôle ni surveillance. »

Dans le canton de Bihać, les autorités sont inquiètes

Selon les autorités municipales, l’augmentation des arrivées à Bihać réveille la crainte que la situation ne revienne à son état d’avant l’état d’urgence, quand les bâtiments abandonnés, mais également les parcs de la ville, étaient devenus des lieux de rassemblement et de vie pour les migrants faute de place dans les camps officiels saturés. « Il n’y a pas eu de nouvelles arrivées pendant la pandémie », précise Ale Šiljededić. « Nous avons vidé les bâtiments squattés et installé les migrants dans le camp Lipa. Ces jours-ci, ces espaces se remplissent à nouveaux, car les centres d’accueil affichent complet. »

Selon les données de l’Organisation internationale pour les migrations (OIM), en charge de la gestion des camps officiels en Bosnie-Herzégovine, 3500 migrants séjournent actuellement dans les camps du Canton d’Una-Sana, dont 1200 dans le nouveau camp de Lipa. Autre problème pour les autorités municipales, le camp de Bira, situé dans la ville de Bihać, dont la fermeture traîne depuis des mois. D’après l’OIM, il accueille à l’heure actuelle quelque 610 migrants. « Bira doit fermer, c’est notre objectif à long terme, mais fermer Bira et avoir des milliers de migrants dans la nature et dans les rues, ce n’est pas non plus une solution », a déclaré le maire Šuhret Fazlić lors d’une conférence de presse le 4 juin.

Sur la base des conclusions du Groupe opérationnel de suivi de la crise migratoire dans le Canton d’Una-Sana, la police contrôle les autocars qui entrent sur le territoire du canton. « Malheureusement, nous n’arrivons pas complètement à dissuader les migrants d’entrer dans le canton, car la majorité d’entre eux poursuit son chemin vers Bihać à pied ou par d’autres moyens », précise Ale Šiljededić.

Les migrants ont le même objectif que les Bosniens

Azra Ibrahimović-Srebrenica, directrice du camp d’Ušivak, près de Sarajevo, confirme que les migrants sont à nouveau en mouvement. Pendant le confinement, il y avait dans ce centre d’accueil dirigé par l’OIM environ 900 migrants, ils ne sont plus que 400 aujourd’hui. « Leur objectif n’est pas la Bosnie-Herzégovine, mais les pays d’Europe occidentale », rappelle-t-elle. « Toute surveillance de la direction du camp cesse quand les migrants les quittent », poursuit-elle. « D’après ce qu’ils nous disent, ils utilisent les transports publics, selon l’argent dont ils disposent. Certains paient leur voyage, et ceux qui ne peuvent pas s’acheter un billet partent à pied. »

Les restrictions de déplacement des migrants sont-elles toujours en vigueur ? Pour l’OIM, « depuis l’adoption de la décision du Conseil des ministres sur la restriction des déplacements et du séjour des étrangers, qui a suivi l’annonce officielle de la pandémie de Covid-19, il est impossible de quitter les centres d’accueil temporaires de manière régulière ». Cette décision, adoptée le 16 avril, interdit les déplacements et le séjour des sans-papiers en dehors des centres d’accueil. Mais les migrants, comme l’a confirmé l’OIM, quittent en général les camps en sautant les barrières.

La population locale est inquiète, « mais c’est principalement à cause des préjugés envers les migrants », affirme la directrice du camp Ušivak. L’objectif de ces derniers, rappelle-t-elle, est exactement le même que celui des citoyens bosniens qui quittent le pays : une vie meilleure. « Les gens se font des idées fausses et des préjugés sur la base de quelques individus problématiques. En réalité, nous avons dans nos centres des gens charmants, bien élevés, éduqués, cultivés, des sportifs talentueux, comme ce groupe de six footballeurs qui se sont entraînés avec le petit club près du camp. Nous avons aussi des musiciens, des enseignants, des médecins... » Selon les données de l’OIM, il y aurait actuellement sur l’ensemble du territoire de la Bosnie-Herzégovine, plus de 5700 migrants logés dans les sept centres d’accueil sous sa tutelle.

►https://www.courrierdesbalkans.fr/A-la-frontiere-Bosnie-Herzegovine-Croatie-les-migrants-tentent-de

#covid-19 #migration #migrant #bosnie #croatie #camp #surpeuplement #campementinformel #traversee #frontiere

Coronavirus : ces réfugiés pris au piège dans les Balkans alors que les frontières de l’Europe sont fermées

Les fermetures de frontières destinées à contenir la propagation du coronavirus bloquent les efforts des réfugiés qui tentent de quitter la Grèce pour l’Europe centrale

Après une longue et épuisante attente, Nabil a finalement atteint l’Europe continentale. Mais alors que le continent lutte encore face à la propagation du coronavirus, ce réfugié syrien s’est retrouvé là où il avait commencé – bloqué et avec peu d’indications sur ce qui l’attend.

La pandémie de coronavirus qui balaie la planète a obligé les pays à fermer leurs frontières et à piéger ainsi des milliers de réfugiés et de migrants en route pour l’Europe.

Ce réfugié syrien de 25 ans est actuellement coincé dans un appartement exigu à Athènes avec cinq autres migrants et voit ses finances s’épuiser.

La route vers la Grèce a été longue pour Nabil. Le jeune réfugié dit avoir été torturé en Syrie avant de fuir la guerre pour se rendre en Jordanie, où il a été exploité pendant six années éreintantes.

Il a survécu au naufrage d’un canot pneumatique pendant une traversée mortelle entre la Turquie et Lesbos et passé huit mois dans un camp de réfugiés. Avant la fermeture de la frontière en mars, il a finalement réussi à rallier l’Europe avec un faux passeport. Mais son voyage de sept ans a de nouveau été brusquement interrompu.

Depuis la Grèce, il avait pour projet de passer illégalement en Albanie et de traverser les Balkans occidentaux (région regroupant la Croatie, la Bosnie-Herzégovine, l’Albanie, le Kosovo, la Macédoine du Nord, le Monténégro, et la Serbie) – une voie migratoire importante – pour tenter d’arriver en Europe centrale.

Mais comme beaucoup d’autres, il a vu ses plans échouer en raison de la fermeture des frontières imposée dans le monde entier pour tenter de contenir la propagation du COVID-19.

« Les frontières étaient déjà fermées le jour où nous avons essayé de passer, donc nous avons été contraints de retourner à Athènes », raconte-t-il.

Nabil passe désormais son temps à apprendre des langues et à regarder des séries télévisées sur Netflix dans « un appartement de misère ». Il ose à peine quitter la maison de peur d’être pris et expulsé, surtout avec une présence policière accrue dans les rues de la ville.

Il est par ailleurs particulièrement important pour lui de prendre des précautions contre le COVID-19 afin d’éviter de se rendre à l’hôpital.

Des pays de transit
La circulation dans les pays des Balkans occidentaux – généralement considérés comme des « pays de transit » – a été interrompue, selon les organisations humanitaires.

Le nombre de nouveaux arrivants en Europe du Sud-Est a chuté de 85 % en mai par rapport à avril 2019 et de 83 % par rapport à mars, selon Neven Crvenkovic, porte-parole régional du HCR (Haut Commissariat des Nations unies pour les réfugiés) pour l’Europe du Sud-Est.

« Sans aucun doute, ceci est dû aux divers degrés de mesures restrictives introduites depuis l’émergence de la menace du COVID-19 », explique-t-il à MEE.

Plus précisément en Bosnie-Herzégovine, un pays qui accueillait 700 migrants par semaine avant les mesures de confinement liées au coronavirus, les arrivées hebdomadaires se sont élevées en moyenne à environ 35 personnes au cours du dernier mois, selon l’Organisation internationale pour les migrations (OIM).

En Grèce, pays en première ligne de la crise des réfugiés en Europe, le nombre d’arrivées de migrants a chuté de façon spectaculaire depuis le début de la fermeture des frontières. En avril, il y a eu moins de 40 arrivées dans les îles de la mer Égée, contre 1 423 en mars et environ 1 500 en avril 2019, selon le HCR.

Les départs vers le continent ont également diminué.

Au cours de la période de sept semaines comprise entre le 23 mars et le 10 mai, 2 192 départs ont été enregistrés, soit une moyenne de 313 par semaine, alors que près de 2 000 départs ont été comptabilisés durant la semaine précédant cette période.

Les mesures de confinement ont ralenti le traitement des dossiers des migrants et l’assistance aux demandeurs d’asile, ce qui a entraîné des retards ou la suspension des procédures d’asile, notamment l’enregistrement des demandes et les entretiens de détermination du statut de réfugié.

À la mi-mars, l’OIM et le HCR ont annoncé une suspension temporaire de leur programme de réinstallation – considéré comme une bouée de sauvetage vitale pour les familles vulnérables – suite aux restrictions de voyage et aux problématiques sanitaires.

Dans certains pays, les migrants doivent rester confinés dans des centres d’asile et d’accueil, ce qui entraîne une surpopulation qui rend les mesures d’isolement difficiles à appliquer. L’enfermement a également intensifié la menace de violence sexiste et les risques pour la protection de l’enfance.

Une liberté de circulation entravée
Aux côtés de partenaires locaux, le HCR conteste actuellement les restrictions de mouvement imposées aux demandeurs d’asile ainsi que les conditions de vie dans les centres qui ne permettent pas aux résidents de respecter les mesures de sécurité, selon Neven Crvenkovic.

Si la Bosnie-Herzégovine a assoupli les restrictions imposées à l’ensemble de la population il y a trois semaines, la circulation des migrants est toujours confrontée à de fortes contraintes.

Pour lutter contre l’impact des mesures de couvre-feu strictes imposées aux 5 200 migrants confinés dans six centres d’asile dans les cantons de Sarajevo et d’Una-Sana en Bosnie, l’OIM a organisé des livraisons de nourriture et supervise des sorties pour récupérer de l’argent via Western Union.

« Nous ne pouvons en transporter qu’une poignée par jour », explique Peter Van der Auweraert, chef de mission en Bosnie-Herzégovine et coordinateur pour les Balkans occidentaux, qui précise que les migrants doivent de ce fait attendre jusqu’à dix jours pour avoir accès à de l’argent liquide.

« Cela entraîne de la frustration et il y a aussi le problème de ces personnes qui ne peuvent pas poursuivre leur voyage et qui deviennent donc anxieuses. Le fait de ne pas pouvoir sortir pour se promener crée également des tensions dans les centres », ajoute-t-il.

Le nombre d’incidents de sécurité a augmenté pendant le Ramadan, poursuit Peter Van der Auweraert, qui explique que le jeûne représentait une contrainte supplémentaire. « Les restrictions à la liberté de circulation ont certainement un impact sur la santé mentale des migrants. »

Bien que le nombre de migrants soit resté stable presque partout en Bosnie-Herzégovine pendant la crise sanitaire, se situant entre 6 000 à 6 500 personnes au total, leur nombre à Bira – une région septentrionale proche de la frontière croate – a diminué d’un millier contre toute attente, affirme Peter Van der Auweraert.

Il prévoit également un afflux de migrants dans les semaines à venir à la suite à la levée des restrictions en Serbie, où 9 000 migrants sont répartis dans différents centres.

Une vérité difficile à accepter
Même lorsque les frontières rouvriront, ce qui lui permettra de poursuivre son voyage, Nabil craint que les passeurs ne gonflent les prix de leurs services – l’été est une période migratoire faste et en raison de la crise du COVID-19, la circulation restera probablement plus difficile que la normale pour ceux qui traversent les frontières illégalement, ce qui fera grimper les tarifs.

Pour l’instant, il ne peut qu’attendre, mais comme il n’a aucun moyen de gagner de l’argent et que ses proches ont du mal à lui en envoyer, son désespoir grandit.

« Après avoir payé le loyer cette semaine, il ne me restera plus que cinquante euros. J’espère que quelque chose va changer car je ne veux pas être sans abri ici », confie-t-il. Nabil a même envisagé de se livrer aux autorités et de se laisser expulser.

« C’est une période très difficile pour tout le monde. Je dois rester calme. Je ne veux pas anéantir tout ce que j’ai fait. Je n’aurais jamais imaginé finir dans un camp de réfugiés », affirme-t-il.

« Quand ma famille m’appelle, je dis toujours que je loge dans un très bel hôtel. Même aujourd’hui, ils ne connaissent pas ma situation. Je suis sûr qu’ils seraient dévastés s’ils connaissaient la vérité. Après sept années passées d’efforts pour venir en Europe afin de construire une nouvelle vie, je suis épuisé, et voilà ce qui arrive. »

▻https://www.middleeasteye.net/fr/reportages/coronavirus-refugies-syrie-frontieres-balkans

#covid-19 #migration #migrant #balkans #grece #bosnieherzegovine #confinement #surpeuplement #camp #entrave #libertedecirculation #incident #violence #diminution #afflux #deconfinement

Former Retirement Home in Sarajevo becomes “migrant center”

[Google Translate]

There are 5,500 migrants in the reception centers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in Sarajevo alone, apart from the migrant camps, there are close to 30 unconditional locations where they stay in groups. They are cared for by volunteers of humanitarian organizations and individuals who consider helping others a civic duty.

It seems that even among the most empathetic, the dose of compassion for migrants has subsided, and everything one gets used to hurts less. Very often we can hear comments that those from the sale of handkerchiefs, and the mercy of the local population, earn enough money for hotel accommodation.

"A few months ago I tried to cross the Croatian border, we came to Slovenia. We were caught by the Slovenian police and returned to Croatia, where we were beaten and returned to Bosnia, to Buzim. I will never forget the people in Buzim. They fed us after three We didn’t eat for days, they received us as their children, we spent four days at their house, they gave us clothes. I will remember Bosnia for good, I will forget bad things. I hope to live in Italy with my family. Here, for now, good, ”says Nusif, 27, Morocco.

Volunteers from the Red Cross and the Danish Refugee Council help them every day. They bring them food, clothes, and provide first aid. Today, they bandaged the wound of a migrant who was stabbed during the so-called “games”.

"Sometimes it’s not even necessary to do any first aid intervention, but simply give them a conversation. Through conversations, through psychological assessments and consultations, we try to get through the journey they are going through with everyone, and we know how long they’ve been traveling. these are sad stories because they left loved ones in the countries they came from and suffered great torture on the way to a better future, "said Jasmin Niksic, the FBiH Red Cross.

"Every time, every day, they say thank you for every package we share. It is a satisfaction for us, but it is our duty. We try to understand their condition, to understand the needs of which there are many, and you see that such a location is not adequate. .They are friendly and I would say that we have a friendly relationship.I would tell everyone that we need to get acquainted with something unknown, that their stories and destinies are difficult but when we meet them we will realize that they are living beings who are unfortunately in the position they are. “Our duty as BiH society and community is to help them as much as we can,” added Dino Pehic, Human Rights Protection Sector at the Danish Refugee Council.

In conditions unworthy of a man in the former Retirement Home in Nedžarići, there are 11 of them. We found some of them sleeping in an improvised bedroom, and maybe they are dreaming of a better life far from here.

#covid-19 #migrant #migration #bosnieherzegovine #camp #maisonderetraite #campementimprovise

▻http://ba.n1info.com/Vijesti/a439672/Migranti-u-Domu-penzionera.html

CARE Balkans The Situation of Refugees and Migrants

▻https://www.care.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Nothilfe/Kontinente/Europa/Balkan/Assessment_Report_-_Bosnia_2020_Policy_final.pdf

#Covid-19 #Migration #Migrant #Balkans #bosnieherzegovine

Info Park
Weekly 3 – 9 June 2020

Serbia
➢ Filip Radovanović (23), who was arrested in Obrenovac after the attack on a refugee reception center, concluded a plea agreement with the Prosecutor’s Office, which sentenced him to eight months in prison. Filip caused an incident on 6 May, when he broke through the fence of Obrenovac reception center with his car, which he broadcasted live on his Facebook profile spreading anti-migrant hate messages.
➢ Belgrade police kept a regular presence at Luka Ćelović (or so-called Afghani) Park forcing refugees to leave or hide, yet Info Park mobile team counted approximately 100 migrants on average in the park (daily minimum was 70 while on the other days 140 individuals were present in the park). Still, lots of migrants are visible throughout
central Belgrade.
➢ The bordering areas with Bosnia, Croatia, Hungary, and Romania are seeing increasing number of migrants staying in the open, waiting for an opportunity to cross the border. The number of people on the move (outside of regular camps) is estimated to be over 1,500.

Croatia
➢ On Friday, 5 May, Zagreb-based Center for Peace Studies (CMS) filed a criminal complaint with the State Attorney’s Office in Croatia against unknown perpetrators among police officers on suspicion of degrading treatment and torture of 33 people and their violent, illegal expulsion from the territory of Croatia to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Moreover, according to the 2019 Aida Country Report on Croatia, the Croatian police pushed back as many as 1,514 people by force in the period between January and November 2019.

Bosnia and Herzegovina
➢ CARE International released a report in March about the treatment of migrants in Bosnia and Herzegovina while the updated version of the assessment was released in late May
2020. The report detailed incidents of violence at the hands of Croatian police and authorities. Additionally, the report said that the situation worsened because of the
restrictions imposed by COVID-19 pandemic and that all international nongovernmental organizations predicted that such a trend would continue when the summer arrives, and restrictions are lifted

Greece
➢ Greece has shifted the problem with accommodation for refugees and other migrants from islands to the mainland. According to UNHCR, around 9,000 refugees started leaving accommodation in camps, apartments and hotels in Greece to vacate much needed accommodation for asylum-seekers currently living in overcrowded conditions on the Greek islands – the move which may push many into poverty and homelessness. This followed the passing of a new law in March 2020 that reduced the grace period for newly recognized refugees to move out of organized accommodation from six months to 30 days.

#Covid-19 #Migration #Migrant #Balkans #serbie #camp #croatie #refoulement #plaintepenale #bosnieherzegovine #camp #grece #transfert

Info Park Weekly 27 May – 2 June 2020

Serbia
➢ Serbian Ministry of Defense dropped the tender for procurement of razor wire originally intended for fencing the reception/asylum centers. As cited on the Ministry’s website, the reasons for this are "objective and verifiable and could have not been foreseen at the time of initiating the procedure”. This is a small but important victory for humanitarian organizations Info Park, A11 Initiative, PIN and other defenders of refugee and migrant human rights who called upon the Ministry to stop the dangerous process which would
lead to further militarization of migration management in Serbia.
➢ The strong trend of migrants and refugees leaving reception centers in Serbia continued this week. On June 1, as per SCRM data 5 687 people are registered in 18 camps, 40% down from only a month ago when the centers were still in quarantine. Out of this number, 1171 are in asylum centers and 4516 in reception centers. The outflow of centers’ beneficiaries contributed to better living conditions, so the camps are not overcrowded
anymore– Adasevci (690) and Krnjaca (612) are the busiest places at the moment. Thousands of migrants are already outside, in border areas with Bosnia, Croatia, Hungary and Romania as well as in Belgrade central area (according to Info Park’s assessment, around 300 persons). No corona cases have been registered among the
migrants so far, despite occasional testing

Bosnia and Herzegovina
➢ Danish Refugee Council (DRC) active in the field in BiH has confirmed the accusations made last week by migrants who were illegally expelled to BiH from Croatia, while experiencing inhuman treatment when Croatian police spray-painted orange crosses on
their heads. In April alone, DRC teams in BiH recorded 1,641 cases of refugees and migrants returning from Croatia to Bosnia. Of that number, 891 said they had suffered violence or physical assault, 1,253 said their property had either been confiscated or
destroyed (set on fire), 871 said Croatian police had either confiscated or destroyed their identification documents, and 445 person said they were denied the opportunity to seek
asylum, despite explicitly asking about it. To find out more on the current situation in BiH, please read this weekly appendix written by Aleksandra Damjanovic from DRC in BiH.
➢ According to local BiH web portal Klix, The State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) is implementing an action code-named “Trieste” ordered by the Una-Sana Canton Prosecutor’s Office. The operation is aimed at breaking up an organized criminal group
that has been smuggling migrants from BiH through Croatia to other European Union countries. The “Trieste” operation is also being carried out in Croatia, in cooperation with EUROPOL. Searches are being conducted at five locations in Velika Kladusa, Cazin and
Bihac. Eight people were arrested so far - four in BiH and four in Croatia.

#Covid-19 #Migration #Migrant #Balkans #Serbie #camp #Bosnie-Herzégovine #Refoulement

RÉFUGIÉS SUR LA ROUTE DES BALKANS : LE RÈGNE DE LA VIOLENCE ET DU SILENCE

Des exilés tués dans les camps financés par l’UE, maltraités et marqués à la peinture par la police croate, des camps de réfugiés qui ressemblent de plus en plus à des « camps de concentration »… La situation ne cesse de se détériorer tout au long de la route des Balkans. Entretien avec la journaliste Nidžara Ahmetašević.

▻https://www.courrierdesbalkans.fr/Refugies-sur-la-route-des-Balkans-le-regne-de-la-violence-et-du-s

#Covid-19 #Migration #Migrant #Balkans #camp #violencespolicières #frontière #Serbie #Bosnie-Herzégovine #Croatie

Info Park
Weekly
20 – 26 May 2020

Serbia
➢ After the lockdown measures were lifted, the number of refugees and other migrants visible in the parks and streets of Savamala district has been increasing daily. Info
Park mobile team has registered a daily average of 160 people on the move in the area, which is higher than the week before and corresponds to the numbers before
the state of emergency. By the end of the week, police officers returned to Park Luke Celovica, commencing raids, and bringing migrants without permits to governmentrun centers to leave the camps back. Info Park registered 534 push backs from Hungary –the high number reflecting return to pre-pandemic dynamics in the border
zone.
➢ Ministry of Defense published a public procurement for 2.5 tons of razor-wire intended for fencing the reception and asylum centers in Serbia. Info Park issued a press statement joined by A11 Initiative, PIN, Alternative Center for Girls and Collective Aid, calling the Ministry to immediately withdraw the public procurement
and return its activities within their constitutional framework. Moreover, the organizations called upon the European Commission to react and inform the
authorities in Belgrade that these actions are derogating the efforts undertaken in Serbia’s accession process towards the European Union, within chapters 23 and 24.
Full statement is available here.
➢ According to Serbian media, a person from Valjevo was arrested for spreading national and racial hatred towards migrants in the text on newly established website owned by the detainee. The website article reads that a new refugee camp for 10,000 migrants will open in Valjevo should the ruling Progressives win the forthcoming
elections.
➢ Belgrade Center for Human Rights issued a press statement informing the public on the inadmissible conduct of the Bogovadja Asylum Centre security guards, who verbally and physically abused an unaccompanied child accommodated there. The
BCHR pressed criminal charges against the guards.
➢ The updated AIDA 2019 Country Report on Serbia documents the main developments in asylum procedures, reception conditions, detention of asylum seekers and the Covid-19 measures. Read the full country report here.

Croatia
➢ Portal Novosti reported on the latest in a series of attempts of Croatian authorities to curb migration in the country. Reportedly, the Croatian state enterprise for forest management carried out deforestation on the heights of the Plješivica mountain and near the former Yugoslav National Army airport Željava, along the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Croatian police allegedly did not deny it but said they aimed to control better the entry of refugees and other migrants from BiH.

Bosnia and Herzegovina
➢ During the previous week, a group of migrants accidentally initiated a fire in an abandoned hall near Miral RC in Velika Kladusa. On 18 May the special police forces
entered the hall and used physical violence against a group of migrants found there and forced them to leave the place. The video of the incident was published on the
YouTube. Association for Democratic Initiatives (ADI) and Civil Rights Defenders (CRD) released a joint statement and condemned the violation of human rights and
use of violence against migrants. Afterwards the cantonal police conducted an internal investigation and concluded there was no excessive use of violence in the
action.

#Covid-19 #Migration #Migrant #Balkans #Bosnie-Herzégovine #Serbie #Croatie

[Google Translate]

Eid lunch for migrants in Zenica: They have a special place in our hearts

The Majlis of the Islamic Community of Zenica, in cooperation with the Kocevo Jamaat, today organized an Eid lunch for more than 20 migrants in Zenica, all with the aim of spreading the Eid atmosphere and helping occasional travelers.
This is the first time that the Majlis of the Islamic Community of Zenica has organized such an activity with the aim of helping migrants, travelers to the European Union, who are stuck in our country due to the impossibility of moving to neighboring Croatia.

Considering that they are far from their countries, without families, the Majlis decided to give them warmth on this Eid, so that in the congregation of Kočevo with the host Ismet ef. About 20 of Bašić had an Eid lunch, and they also received hedi.

Basic said that this is a novelty and that most likely other majlises and levels of the Islamic Community of BiH will accept this practice.

"Apart from this activity, we have previously collected stalls and aid for migrant centers. Bosniaks in this city have always been merhametli, and we wanted to brighten our cheeks and tell occasional travelers to have a special place in our hearts, houses and our city, "said ef. Basic for Klix.ba.

He added that the citizens of BiH are most invited to be an example to other people of how to treat this population of people because we ourselves were passengers a few years ago, but still today.

"They often repeat in conversation that they left their countries because of the economy, disrespect for human rights, denied freedom and democracy. They want to reach European countries. I think you will agree, and I myself have lived in Arab countries for a long time, that Muslims in BiH has great freedom, which can be seen through the sermons because no one delegates to us what we will talk about, while it is not in Islamic countries, we helped this population through our traveling iftar activity during Ramadan. “10 migrants worshiped iftars and monetary hedias. This activity today is the crown of our human obligation to man, especially to those in need,” our interlocutor added.

Jamaat members, but also the citizens of Zenica, help migrants every day, but they cannot fulfill all their wishes.

"In the days of Eid, nostalgia is felt, they say that they miss their homeland, family, parents, family ... Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if we were so persistent and tried in some things like them, where would we end up … ”, Concluded Bašić.

After the Eid lunch, the migrants cleaned the courtyard of the mosque.

▻https://www.klix.ba/vijesti/bih/bajramski-rucak-za-migrante-u-zenici-imaju-posebno-mjesto-u-nasem-srcu/200525071

#Covid-19 #Migration #Migrant #Balkans #Bosnie-Herzégovine #Zenica #Eid

[Google Translate]

The imams of Mostar shared the joy of Eid with the migrants and the local priest

Today, three Mostar imams from the area of ​​Bijelo Polje shared the joy of Eid with the migrants in Salakovac and with the local priest, who visited and treated them to Eid delicacies.
The arrival of the Mostar imams in the IPC Salakovac caused great joy among the migrants, and they especially cheered up the children to whom they distributed Eid packages and lit up their faces with smiles.

As the imam of the Podgorani-Humi-Prigrađani congregation, Admir ef. Čopelj, told us, with the help of good people, they prepared 750 packages, of which 50 were distributed to children in the IPC Salakovac and 700 to the children of the congregation from Bijelo Polje.

Thus, during the past three days in the area of ​​Bijelo Polje, three imams knocked on many doors of their congregation members. They brought joy to many homes and caused smiles on the faces of many children, surprising them with Ramadan packages.

“As we could not gather the children in one place due to the pandemic, we decided that everyone in their congregation would knock on the door and deliver the packages to their home address, which made them very happy,” said Admir ef. Shoe. The goal was, as he emphasizes, for the children to remember this Ramadan and Eid in a beautiful memory and to see the smiles on their faces, which completes the Eid joy.

Recalling that it is important to share the joy of Eid at all times, the imam of the Potoci congregation, Ammar Copelj, points out that this is especially important now, when people have been away from each other for almost more than two months, even their loved ones.

“Slowly, these protection measures are diminishing and the concessions came at a time of joy to be together, and to feel that joy,” said Imam Ammar Copelj.

However, due to protection measures, as the imam of the Kuti-Livač Ensar Vila congregation points out, they could not even organize a traditional reception, which was regularly attended by representatives of other religious communities. Therefore, as he explains, the three imams decided to bring Eid cakes together and visited the parish priest from Bijelo Polje, Nebojsa Radic, who welcomed them with enthusiasm.

"This means a lot to me. We have been building a community and living together for a long time, through our Christmas celebrations they are always welcome with us and we with them for Eid. I think this is a message to our society that this is the only way we can build love between us and “A healthy coexistence and the life of our communities. This is a great joy both for the believers of the Islamic faith and for us to be able to share the joy of our holidays,” said Pastor Radić.

▻https://www.klix.ba/vijesti/bih/mostarski-imami-radost-bajrama-podijelili-sa-migrantima-i-mjesnim-popom/200524060

#Covid-19 #Migration #Migrant #Balkans #Bosnie-Herzégovine #Mostar #Eid

[Google Translate]

After the recording of the use of force against migrants in Miral: The results of the internal investigation are known

An internal investigation was completed after a video of a police intervention in the Miral reception center and the use of force against migrants appeared.

The Minister of Internal Affairs of the Una-Sana Canton (USK), Nermin Kljajić, said that the internal investigation confirmed that there was no violation of authority during one of the police interventions in Miral, which has been talked about a lot in recent days due to a controversial video on the Internet.

"It was clearly established that the intervention of the police officers in this reception center was explicitly requested by the employees of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), since their lives were endangered. We simply had to act in that way and use physical force. Reasons for intervention. there were also aggressive behavior of migrants, disrespect for officials, causing incidents, and dangers in the camp itself, "the cantonal interior minister added.

Kljajic also spoke about the overall situation when it comes to migrants.

He said that the situation with migrants, ie a series of incidents and several burning abandoned buildings in Velika Kladuša, conditioned the increased police presence and controls.

"As you know, several abandoned buildings in Velika Kladuša have been set on fire in recent days. We have not yet identified the perpetrators of these crimes, although we found migrants with valid Mirala residence cards in those facilities and moved them to this reception center.

Further investigations will determine whether these arsons are actually the result of their dissatisfaction that we were doing our job. Also, I must say that the number of migrants on the streets of Velika Kladuša has significantly increased, for which there is no place in Miral. The complete situation dictates the intensified police controls - Kljajić added.

Members of the Operational Group for the Situation with Migrants in Una-Sana Canton, due to all events and the complete situation, asked for the cooperation of the municipal authorities in Velika Kladuša, ie finding a location for the formation of a transitional center to accommodate migrants from Miral, abandoned buildings.

▻https://radiosarajevo.ba/vijesti/bosna-i-hercegovina/nakon-snimka-primjene-sile-nad-migrantima-u-miralu-poznati-rezultati-interne-istrage/377964

#Covid-19 #Migration #Migrant #Balkans #Bosnie-Herzégovine #Miral #Camp #Violencespolicières #Velikakladusa

[Google Translate]

Minister on police violence against migrants in Miral: We had to use force because they were aggressive

The Minister of Internal Affairs of the Una-Sana Canton (USK), Nermin Kljajić, confirmed that the situation with migrants, ie incidents and several burning abandoned buildings in Velika Kladuša, conditioned the increased police presence and controls. He also referred to a video released a few days ago, which shows police beating migrants.
"As you know, several abandoned buildings in Velika Kladuša have been set on fire in recent days. We have not yet identified the perpetrators of these crimes, although we found migrants with valid Mirala residence cards in these buildings and moved them to this reception center. “These burns are actually a consequence of their dissatisfaction that we did our job. I must also say that the number of migrants on the streets of Velika Kladuša has increased significantly, for which there is no place in Miral. The complete situation dictates increased police controls,” said Minister Kljajić. .

It was also emphasized that the internal investigation confirmed that there was no abuse of power during one of the police interventions in Miral, which has been talked about a lot in recent days due to the controversial video on the Internet.

"It was clearly established that the intervention of the police officers in this reception center was explicitly requested by the employees of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), since their lives were endangered. We simply had to act in that way and use physical force. Reasons for intervention. there were also aggressive behavior of migrants, disrespect for officials, causing incidents, and dangers in the camp itself, "the cantonal interior minister added.

Due to all the events and the complete situation, the members of the Operational Group for the Situation with Migrants in Una-Sana Canton requested the cooperation of the municipal authorities in Velika Kladuša, ie finding a location for the formation of a transitional center to accommodate migrants from Miral and city streets. abandoned buildings.

▻https://www.klix.ba/vijesti/bih/ministar-o-nasilju-policije-nad-migrantima-u-miralu-morali-smo-upotrijebiti-silu-jer-su-bili-agresivni/200522119

#Covid-19 #Migration #Migrant #Balkans #Bosnie-Herzégovine #Miral #Velikakladusa #Violence #Incendie

[Google Translate]

Fazlić: If the stampede of migrants goes to Bihać, there will be more Vučjak

The mayor of Bihać, Šuhret Fazlić, warned the authorities that, if a stampede of migrants enters this city, which no one will take care of, he will open five more Vučjak camps.

Fazlic emphasized the importance of the presence of the EU Delegation, the European Commission and international organizations, without which, as he said, the situation would be chaotic.

– We should all be professional and quickly continue the successful cooperation so far. Also, I must warn all actors in the process that I will not hesitate to open new Vučjak if Bihać is again exposed to the unbearable pressure of migrants and left to it - said Fazlić.

The Prime Minister of Una-Sana Canton Mustafa Ružnić, mayors and mayors of Una-Sana Canton emphasized at today’s meeting the importance and success of the current cooperation with the European Commission and international organizations, but also reiterated that the interest of the citizens of that canton is always in the first place. uncompromisingly insists on closing the reception centers “Bira” and “Miral”.

– We will be maximally professional in further actions, however, it must be clear to everyone that the Una-Sana Canton will not be a yard for solving the problem of migration in this part of Europe. We will not deal with any correspondence, but we will, in accordance with the constitutional powers, take care of the interests and security of our citizens - Ružnić pointed out.

He mentioned that the closure of “Bira” and “Mirala” was ordered at a joint meeting in Brussels, where it was emphasized that the reception centers must not be in private facilities.

It is clearly defined how the process of final closure of “Bire” will take place in two phases and that it has actually already begun.

The Minister of Internal Affairs of the Una-Sana Canton, Nermin Kljajić, pointed out that in the past period, they blocked this reception center by reducing the number of service users from 2,100 people to the current 650 migrants.

– In the first phase of the further process, we are relocating minors, after which we will transfer about 400 people to a reception camp at the Lipa site. I hope that we will finish everything very soon, and with professional action and with the support of international organizations, finally close the unconditional and undesirable camp in the center of Bihać - said Kljajić.

The political representatives of the Una-Sana Canton are persistent in the request for the relocation of unaccompanied minors to reception centers outside that canton, federal media report.

Cantonal Minister of Health Nermina Ćemalović stated that they are already in communication with the authorities for the reception centers Duje and Salakovac, where they want to relocate 150 minors who do not have adequate living conditions in the centers in the Una-Sana Canton.

– In “Bira” and “Miral”, we currently have 23 children under the age of 15, which is inadmissible. Someone should really think about this big problem, which of course was left to us again in the canton - said Ćemalović.

The importance of joint action in this situation was emphasized at the meeting, but also the belief that this time there will be support and cooperation between the Ministry of Security in the Council of Ministers and the line minister Fahrudin Radončić.

▻https://lat.rtrs.tv/vijesti/vijest.php?id=385146

#Covid-19 #Migration #Migrant #Balkans #Bosnie-Herzégovine #Camp #Una-Sanacanton #Bihac

Call to Action: STOP FUNDING VIOLENCE NOW!

▻https://transbalkanskasolidarnost.home.blog/stop-funding-violence-now

May 27 – 29, 2020

Transbalkan Solidarity invites you to participate in a 48-hour return-the-bullets-back protest campaign directed at the European Union and its decision-making bodies (the European Parliament, the European Council, the European Commission and the Council of the European Union), which are accountable for funding acts of systematic violence that amount to crimes against humanity.

Why do we need to take action?

Through the Internal Security Fund (ISF) allocated to Member States’ national programmes for law enforcement cooperation and the management of the union’s external borders, and the Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) cross-border collaboration programmes for non-member states, European Union is responsible for committing acts of violence against peoples that are residing, settling in or migrating to Europe by land or sea.

Acts of violence occurring daily in more or less all the current camps, police stations, courtrooms, deportation centers, prisons and border areas in Europe:

are not isolated or sporadic events but are a part of a wide systematic practice tolerated and condoned by our governments and the European Parliament,
are funded by public funds,
are a stable source of profit for privately-owned companies and shareholders,
are reinforcing the arms industry, arms trade, and war economy,
are direct degradation of the international humanitarian and human rights law, and subsequently the derogation of the right to asylum.
Dehumanisation, deportations, extrajudicial punishments, kidnappings and forced disappearances, imprisonment, enslavement, human trafficking, torture, rape, political repression, racial discrimination and other human rights abuses experienced by people that reached Europe as migrants and refugees are a part of a widespread and systematic practice enforced by governmental policies and are conducted by law enforcement agencies, police and military forces, private security services, criminal groups, vigilante groups, judicial systems and other governmental bodies in Europe.

Therefore, Transbalkan Solidarity holds the European Union’s decision-making bodies together with the Member States’ and non-member states’ governments accountable for:

every bullet fired,
every baton injury, every dog bite wound, every painful stitch,
every drowning in the sea and rivers, every lack of rescue, every ban of docking,
every tragic death, every disappearance, every family separation, every pushback, every human trauma caused by hunger, thirst, humiliation, and pain,
every illegalisation and criminalisation of human existence,
every criminalisation of activism and solidarity,
all the acts of violence committed in the name of racial bias and xenophobic prejudice,
all the acts of violence committed in the name of territory governance and border management,
all the acts of violence committed in the name of profit!
How to participate in the campaign?

return the bullet that killed hope back (photo attached) to the European Commission at
Secretariat-General, Ursula von der Leyen (president):

ec-president-vdl@ec.europa.eu

Migration and Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson (commissioner):

cab-johansson-contact@ec.europa.eu

Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi (commissioner):

cab-varhelyi-contact@ec.europa.eu

If you are concerned about your privacy, open a new email address.

share the bullet that killed hope (photo attached) on your social media with hashtags
#stopfundingviolence, #thisbulletkilledhope, #protestcampaign, #transbalkansolidarity, #europeancommission #eu

distribute this call to action among your comrades and in your community
return and/or share a bullet that killed hope anytime between May 27 – 29, 2020
Take action now! Return the bullet that killed hope back to those who are funding it!

Transbalkan Solidarity

_

Why do we organize this protest campaign?

“They were just following orders” is the most common justification of violence we get, known as the Nuremberg Defense. But we are asking back: Whose orders? Whose funds?

Who ordered the acts of violence against the kids in Bogovađa in Serbia this May, the violence against the people under protection in Obrenovac camp in Serbia and the beatings and the application of tear gas indoors in Krnjača camp in Serbia this April? Who gave orders for the urgent acquisition of razor wire for enclosing the camps in Serbia or fencing off the Porin camp in Zagreb in Croatia? Who ordered the use of lethal force of private security personnel and the consequent death of Ahmed from Kurdistan in camp Ušivak in Hadžići in Bosnia and Herzegovina in early May? Who ordered the forced transfers from camp to camp in Bosnia and Serbia? Who ordered the state-administered burning of personal possessions in Velika Kladuša in Bosnia and Herzegovina? Who ordered the access restrictions to prevent entry into the Bosnia camps that led to the tragic death of Ahmed from Morocco in Miral camp near Velika Kladuša? Who gave orders for random beatings in Miral camp this May, or regular cruelty of Croatian police and countless pushbacks, dog attacks, and injuries to the people? Who gave the order to stamp people on the move with the red cross sprayed on their heads and bodies? Who gave and funded those orders? Who ordered firearms shots at people on the move on multiple occasions, including children? Who ordered to let the dogs out? Who?

There is no end to such horrible acts that were committed in the very short time of the Covid-19 lockdown? What fascists think and talk, the European Union’s decision-making bodies are funding and implementing, or is it the other way around? Such politics and crimes are shaping public opinion and encouraging hate speech, hate crimes, the recruitment of white supremacists and fascism. “Strike the scum, strike the animals,“ has become a normalized and widely accepted way of social commenting on every news of violence committed against the people on the move. It is those who are there to officially promote universal respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in Europe who are committing these acts and should be held accountable.

#Covid-19 #Migration #Migrant #Balkans #Serbie #Bosnie-Herzégovine #Croatie

[Google translate]

NGO: What is the reason for the army in the migrant camps, there were no incidents

Women in Black, A11 - The Initiative for Economic and Social Rights and Info Park today strongly condemned the engagement of the Serbian Army in the refugee centers in Sid, Principovac and Adasevci.

“We believe that there are no reasons for such a thing and that by sending members of the Ministry of Defense, they will further militarize the refugee tragedy in Serbia,” the statement reads.

These non-governmental organizations estimate that bringing the Serbian Army to refugee centers in western Serbia encourages a climate of racism and fascist attacks frequent even before the introduction of the state of emergency, which culminated in the recent attack in Obrenovac during this period.

With the introduction of the state of emergency on March 15, migrants, refugees and asylum seekers were deprived of basic human rights in reception centers and asylum centers, all in the name of alleged protection from the kovida-19 epidemic, the statement said. The arrival in Sid and the appearances of the Minister of Defense Aleksandar Vulin and the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Army, Petar Cvetković, as well as the presence of the Chief of the Military Police Directorate, General Rajko Milovanović, on May 17, only raised the already high degree of militarization of state bodies. an atmosphere of “finding the culprit”.

The reference of the Minister and the General to the orders from the “Supreme Commander of the Serbian Army, Aleksandar Vučić”, after the lifting of the state of emergency, shows that it is, in fact, still in force. As it is stated, it is not at all clear what is the reason for the explanation of the Ministry of Defense that the army was engaged in the migrant camp to ’help the police’, because since the lifting of the state of emergency, the police have not identified any incidents caused by migrants.

It was said that these highest security measures were introduced as a kind of prevention, and in order to make the citizens of Shida, but also the residents of the migrant camp, feel safer.

The manifestation of such a high, and obviously unnecessary level of state power, can only increase the feeling of threat and danger among the citizens of Shida and among migrants and refugees who are “secured” in such a way, the Women in Black, A11 - Initiative for Economic and Social Rights and Info Park.

▻http://rs.n1info.com/Vesti/a601102/NVO-Sta-je-povod-za-vojsku-u-migrantskim-kampovima-nije-bilo-incidenata.h

#Covid-19 #Migration #Migrant #Balkans #Bosnie-Herzégovine #Manifestation

Bosnia to Probe Alleged Police Brutality in Migrant Camp

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — Bosnian authorities will hold an internal investigation into police conduct at a U.N.-run migrant camp in the country after a video emerged this week allegedly showing a group of police savagely beating a camp resident.

In a statement Friday, the United Nations resident office in Bosnia welcomed the announcement, saying Bosnian authorities must “at all times abide by local laws as well as international human rights norms and standards.”

The U.N. had previously requested an immediate investigation of the incident which allegedly occurred earlier this month at the Miral camp, in the northwestern city of Velika Kladusa. Local police initially dismissed accusations of brutality, saying they were called to the camp to pacify a hostile, stone-throwing crowd during a protest by migrants over movement restrictions due to the pandemic.

The 30-second video uploaded on YouTube and shared by various Balkan news outlets allegedly showed a group of police approaching a random migrant in an apparently peaceful section of the camp and hitting the young man with fists and batons.

Bosnian authorities have recently grown increasingly hostile to thousands of migrants trapped in the country, with security minister Fahrudin Radonicic proposing in April to start deporting them en masse. Many migrants enter Bosnia illegally in hope of continuing their journey towards Europe’s prosperous heartland through neighboring Croatia, a European Union member.

The U.N. migration organization, IOM, which manages all temporary migrant accommodation centers in Bosnia, has been reporting serious overcrowding since mid-March when police started rounding up migrants who had been sleeping rough in the streets and driving them to its facilities.

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Authorities said at the time they had to move migrants off the streets as part of measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic. Migrants who have since not been allowed to leave the camps, not even to go to a shop, say authorities are unjustly depriving them of their freedom.

IOM camps in Bosnia currently house 6,200 people, or nearly 20% more than before the advent of the pandemic in the country in mid-March.

▻https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2020/05/22/world/europe/ap-eu-bosnia-un-migrants.html

#Covid-19 #Migration #Migrant #Balkans #Bosnie-Herzégovine #Velikakladusa #Miral #Camp #Violencespolicières #