#route_des_balkans

European Border and Coast Guard: Launch of first ever joint operation outside the EU

Today, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, in cooperation with the Albanian authorities, is launching the first ever joint operation on the territory of a neighbouring non-EU country. As of 22 May, teams from the Agency will be deployed together with Albanian border guards at the Greek-Albanian border to strengthen border management and enhance security at the EU’s external borders, in full agreement with all concerned countries. This operation marks a new phase for border cooperation between the EU and its Western Balkan partners, and is yet another step towards the full operationalisation of the Agency.

The launch event is taking place in Tirana, Albania, in the presence of Dimitris Avramopoulos, Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Fabrice Leggeri, Executive Director of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Edi Rama, Albanian Prime Minister and Sandër Lleshaj, Albanian Interior Minister.

Dimitris Avramopoulos, Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, said: "With the first ever deployment of European Border and Coast Guard teams outside of the EU, we are opening an entirely new chapter in our cooperation on migration and border management with Albania and with the whole Western Balkan region. This is a real game changer and a truly historical step, bringing this region closer to the EU by working together in a coordinated and mutually supportive way on shared challenges such as better managing migration and protecting our common borders.”

Fabrice Leggeri, Executive Director of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, said: “Today we mark a milestone for our agency and the wider cooperation between the European Union and Albania. We are launching the first fully fledged joint operation outside the European Union to support Albania in border control and tackling cross-border crime.”

While Albania remains ultimately responsible for the protection of its borders, the European Border and Coast Guard is able to lend both technical and operational support and assistance. The European Border and Coast Guard teams will be able to support the Albanian border guards in performing border checks at crossing points, for example, and preventing unauthorised entries. All operations and deployments at the Albanian border with Greece will be conducted in full agreement with both the Albanian and Greek authorities.

At the start of the operation, the Agency will be deploying 50 officers, 16 patrol cars and 1 thermo-vision van from 12 EU Member States (Austria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, the Netherlands, Romania, Poland and Slovenia) to support Albania in border control and tackling cross-border crime.

Strengthened cooperation between priority third countries and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency will contribute to the better management of irregular migration, further enhance security at the EU’s external borders and strengthen the Agency’s ability to act in the EU’s immediate neighbourhood, while bringing that neighbourhood closer to the EU.

▻http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-19-2591_en.htm
#externalisation

Remarks by Commissioner Avramopoulos in Albania at the official launch of first ever joint operation outside the EU

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We are here today to celebrate an important achievement and a milestone, both for Albania and for the EU.

Only six months ago, here in Tirana, the EU signed the status agreement with Albania on cooperation on border management between Albania and the European Border and Coast Guard. This agreement, that entered into force three weeks ago, was the first agreement ever of its kind with a neighbouring country.

Today, we will send off the joint European Border and Coast Guard Teams to be deployed as of tomorrow for the first time in a non-EU Member State. This does not only mark a new phase for border cooperation between the EU and Western Balkan partners, it is also yet another step towards the full operationalisation of the Agency.

The only way to effectively address migration and security challenges we are facing today and those we may be confronted with in the years to come is by working closer together, as neighbours and as partners. What happens in Albania and the Western Balkans affects the European Union, and the other way around.

Joint approach to border management is a key part of our overall approach to managing migration. It allows us to show to our citizens that their security is at the top of our concerns. But effective partnership in ensuring orderly migration also enables us, as Europe, to remain a place where those in need of protection can find shelter.

Albania is the first country in the Western Balkans with whom the EU is moving forward with this new important chapter in our joint co-operation on border management.

This can be a source of pride for both Albania and the EU and an important step that brings us closer together.

While the overall situation along the Western Balkans route remains stable with continuously low levels of arrivals - it is in fact like night and day when compared to three years ago - we need to remain vigilant.

The Status Agreement will help us in this effort. It expands the scale of practical, operational cooperation between the EU and Albania and hopefully soon with the rest of the Western Balkan region.

These are important elements of our co-operation, also in view of the continued implementation of the requirements under the visa liberalisation agreement. Visa-free travel is a great achievement, which brings benefits to all sides and should be safeguarded.

Together with Albanian border guards, European Border and Coast Guard teams will be able to perform border checks at crossing points and perform border surveillance to prevent unauthorized border crossings and counter cross-border criminality.

But, let me be clear, Albania remains ultimately responsible for the protection of its borders. European Border and Coast Guard Teams may only perform tasks and exercise powers in the Albanian territory under instructions from and, as a general rule, in the presence of border guards of the Republic of Albania.

Dear Friends,

When it comes to protecting our borders, ensuring our security and managing migration, the challenges we face are common, and so must be our response.

The European Border and Coast Guard Status Agreement and its implementation will allow us to better work together in all these areas. I hope that these agreements can be finalised also with other Western Balkans partners as soon as possible.

I wish to thank Prime Minister Edi Rama, the Albanian authorities, and the Executive Director of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Fabrice Leggeri and his team for their close cooperation in bringing this milestone achievement to life. I also want to thank all Member States who have contributed with staff and the personnel who will be part of this first deployment of European Border and Coast Guard teams in a neighbouring country.

With just a few days to go before the European Elections, the need for a more united and stronger European family is more important than ever. We firmly believe that a key priority is to have strong relations with close neighbours, based on a clear balance of rights and obligations – but above all, on genuine partnership. This includes you, fellow Albanians.

Albania is part of the European family.Our challenges are common. They know no borders. The progress we are witnessing today is another concrete action and proof of our commitment to bring us closer together. To make us stronger.

▻http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-19-2668_en.htm

Externalisation: Frontex launches first formal operation outside of the EU and deploys to Albania

The EU has taken a significant, if geographically small, step in the externalisation of its borders. The European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex, has launched its first Joint Operation on the territory of a non-EU-Member State, as it begins cooperation with Albania on the border with Greece.

After the launch of the operation in Tirana on 21 May a deployment of 50 officers, 16 patrol cars and a thermo-vision van started yesterday, 22 May (European Commission, link). Twelve Member States (Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, the Netherlands, Romania, Poland and Slovenia) have contributed to the operation.

New agreements

The move follows the entry into force on 1 May this year of a Status Agreement between the EU and Albania on actions carried out by Frontex in that country (pdf). Those actions are made possible by the conclusion of operational plans, which must be agreed between Frontex and the Albanian authorities.

The Status Agreement with Albania was the first among several similar agreements to be signed between the Agency and Balkan States, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and North Macedonia.

The nascent operation in Albania will give Frontex team members certain powers, privileges and immunities on Albanian territory, including the use of force in circumstances authorised by Albanian border police and outlined in the operational plan.

Frontex does not publish operational plans whilst operations (which can be renewed indefinitely) are ongoing, and documents published after the conclusion of operations (usually in response to requests for access to documents) are often heavily-redacted (Ask the EU, link).

Relevant articles

Article 4 of the Status Agreement outlines the tasks and powers of members of Frontex teams operating in Albanian territory. This includes the use of force, if it is authorised by both the Frontex team member’s home Member State and the State of Albania, and takes place in the presence of Albanian border guards. However, Albania can authorise team members to use force in their absence.

Article 6 of the Status Agreement grants Frontex team members immunity from Albanian criminal, civil and administrative jurisdiction “in respect of the acts performed in the exercise of their official functions in the course of the actions carried out in accordance with the operational plan”.

Although a representative of Albania would be informed in the event of an allegation of criminal activity, it would be up to Frontex’s executive director to certify to the court whether the actions in question were performed as part of an official Agency function and in accordance with the Operational Plan. This certification will be binding on the jurisdiction of Albania. Proceedings may only continue against an individual team member if the executive director confirms that their actions were outside the scope of the exercise of official functions.

Given the closed nature of the operational plans, this grants the executive director wide discretion and ensures little oversight of the accountability of Agency team members. Notably, Article 6 also states that members of teams shall not be obliged to give evidence as witnesses. This immunity does not, however, extend to the jurisdiction of team members’ home Member States, and they may also waive the immunity of the individual under Albanian jurisdiction.

Right to redress

These measures of immunity alongside the lack of transparency surrounding documents outlining team members’ official functions and activities (the operational plan) raise concerns regarding access to redress for victims of human rights violations that may occur during operations.

Human rights organisations have denounced the use of force by Frontex team members, only to have those incidents classified by the Agency as par for the course in their operations. Cases include incidents of firearm use that resulted in serious injury (The Intercept, link), but that was considered to have taken place according to the standard rules of engagement. This opacity has implications for individuals’ right to good administration and to the proper functioning of accountability mechanisms.

If any damage results from actions that were carried out according to the operational plan, Albania will be held liable. This is the most binding liability outlined by the Status Agreement. Albania may only “request” that compensation be paid by the Member State of the team member responsible, or by the Agency, if acts were committed through gross negligence, wilful misconduct or outside the scope of the official functions of the Agency team or staff member.

Across the board

The provisions regarding tasks, powers and immunity in the Status Agreements with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of North Macedonia and Serbia are all broadly similar, with the exception of Article 6 of the agreement with Bosnia and Herzegovina. This states:

“Members of the team who are witnesses may be obliged by the competent authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina… to provide evidence in accordance with the procedural law of Bosnia and Herzegovina”.

The Status Agreement with Serbia, an early draft of which did not grant immunity to team members, is now consistent with the Agreement with Albania and includes provisions stating that members of teams shall not be obliged to give evidence as witnesses.

It includes a further provision that:

“...members of the team may use weapons only when it is absolutely necessary in self-defence to repel an immediate life-threatening attack against themselves or another person, in accordance with the national legislation of the Republic of Serbia”.

▻http://www.statewatch.org/news/2019/may/fx-albania-launch.htm

La police des frontières extérieures de l’UE s’introduit en Albanie

Frontex, l’agence chargée des frontières extérieures de l’Union européenne, a lancé mardi en Albanie sa première opération hors du territoire d’un de ses États membres.

Cette annonce de la Commission européenne intervient quelques jours avant les élections européennes et au moment où la politique migratoire de l’UE est critiquée par les candidats souverainistes, comme le ministre italien de l’Intérieur Matteo Salvini ou le chef de file de la liste française d’extrême droite, Jordan Bardella, qui a récemment qualifié Frontex d’« hôtesse d’accueil pour migrants ».

Cette opération conjointe en Albanie est « une véritable étape historique rapprochant » les Balkans de l’UE, et témoigne d’une « meilleure gestion de la migration et de la protection de nos frontières communes », a commenté à Tirana le commissaire chargé des migrations, Dimitris Avramopoulos.

L’Albanie espère convaincre les États membres d’ouvrir des négociations d’adhésion ce printemps, ce qui lui avait été refusé l’an passé. Son premier ministre Edi Rama a salué « un pas très important dans les relations entre l’Albanie et l’Union européenne » et a estimé qu’il « renforçait également la coopération dans le domaine de la sécurité ».

À partir de 22 mai, Frontex déploiera des équipes conjointes à la frontière grecque avec des agents albanais.

La Commission européenne a passé des accords semblables avec la Macédoine du Nord, la Serbie, le Monténégro et la Bosnie-Herzégovine, qui devraient également entrer en vigueur.

Tous ces pays sont sur une des « routes des Balkans », qui sont toujours empruntées clandestinement par des milliers de personnes en route vers l’Union européenne, même si le flux n’est en rien comparable avec les centaines de milliers de migrants qui ont transité par la région en quelques mois jusqu’à la fermeture des frontières par les pays de l’UE début 2016.

Ce type d’accord « contribuera à l’amélioration de la gestion de la migration clandestine, renforcera la sécurité aux frontières extérieures de l’UE et consolidera la capacité de l’agence à agir dans le voisinage immédiat de l’UE, tout en rapprochant de l’UE les pays voisins concernés », selon un communiqué de la Commission.

Pour éviter de revivre le chaos de 2015, l’Union a acté un renforcement considérable de Frontex. Elle disposera notamment d’ici 2027 d’un contingent de 10 000 garde-frontières et garde-côtes pour aider des pays débordés.

https://images.lpcdn.ca/641x427/201905/21/1641482-membres-frontex-policiers-albanais-conversent.jpg

European Border and Coast Guard Agency began to patrol alongside the Albanian-Greek border in late May (►https://www.bilten.org/?p=28118). Similar agreements have recently been concluded with Serbia, Northern Macedonia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina but Albania is the first country to start implementing programs aimed at blocking refugees entering the EU. Bilten states that Frontex employees can carry arms and fight “against any kind of crime, from” illegal migration “to theft of a car or drug trafficking”. Frontex’s mission is not time-bound, i.e. it depends on the EU’s need. The Albanian authorities see it as a step forward to their membership in the Union.

Reçu via la mailing-list Inicijativa dobrodosli, le 10.06.2019

L’article original:
Što Frontex radi u Albaniji?

https://www.bilten.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/000_1FP47G.jpg

Nakon što je Europska unija službeno zatvorila “balkansku migrantsku rutu”, očajni ljudi počeli su tražiti nove puteve. Jedan od njih prolazi kroz Albaniju, a tamošnja se vlada odrekla kontrole nad vlastitom granicom u nadi da će time udobrovoljiti unijske dužnosnike.

Agencija za europsku graničnu i obalnu stražu, Frontex, počela je krajem prošlog mjeseca patrolirati uz albansko-grčku granicu. Već prvog dana, raspoređeno je pedesetak policajaca iz različitih zemalja članica EU koji bi se u suradnji s albanskim graničarima trebali boriti protiv “ilegalne migracije”. Iako je slične dogovore Unija nedavno sklopila sa zemljama poput Srbije, Sjeverne Makedonije, Crne Gore te Bosne i Hercegovine – a sve s ciljem blokiranja mogućnosti izbjeglica da uđu na područje EU – Albanija je prva zemlja u kojoj je počela provedba tog programa. Zaposlenici Frontexa ne samo da smiju nositi oružje, već imaju i dozvolu da se bore protiv bilo koje vrste kriminala, od “ilegalnih migracija” do krađe automobila ili trgovine drogom. Također, njihova misija nije vremenski ograničena, što znači da će Frontexovi zaposlenici patrolirati s albanske strane granice dok god to Unija smatra potrebnim.

Unatoč nekim marginalnim glasovima koji su se žalili zbog kršenja nacionalne suverenosti prepuštanjem kontrole nad granicom stranim trupama, javnost je reagirala bilo potpunom nezainteresiranošću ili čak blagom potporom sporazumu koji bi tobože trebao pomoći Albaniji da uđe u Europsku uniju. S puno entuzijazma, lokalni su se mediji hvalili kako su u prva četiri dana Frontexovi zaposlenici već ulovili 92 “ilegalna migranta”. No to nije prvo, a ni najozbiljnije predavanje kontrole nad granicom koje je poduzela albanska vlada. Još od kasnih 1990-ih i ranih 2000-ih jadranskim i jonskim teritorijalnim vodama Republike Albanije patrolira talijanska Guardia di Finanza. Tih se godina albanska obala često koristila kao most prema Italiji preko kojeg je prelazila većina migranata azijskog porijekla, ne samo zbog blizine južne Italije, već i zbog slabosti državnih aparata tijekom goleme krize 1997. i 1998. godine.

Helikopteri Guardije di Finanza također kontroliraju albansko nebo u potrazi za poljima kanabisa i to sve u suradnji s lokalnom državnom birokracijom koja je sama dijelom suradnica dilera, a dijelom nesposobna da im se suprotstavi. No posljednjih godina, zbog toga što su druge rute zatvorene, sve veći broj ljudi počeo se kretati iz Grčke preko Albanije, Crne Gore i BiH prema zemljama EU. Prema Međunarodnoj organizaciji za migracije, granicu je prešlo oko 18 tisuća ljudi, uglavnom iz Sirije, Pakistana i Iraka. To predstavlja povećanje od sedam puta u odnosu na godinu ranije. Tek manji dio tih ljudi je ulovljen zbog nedostatka kapaciteta granične kontrole ili pak potpune indiferencije prema ljudima kojima siromašna zemlja poput Albanije nikada neće biti destinacija.
Tranzitna zemlja

Oni koje ulove smješteni su u prihvatnom centru blizu Tirane, ali odatle im je relativno jednostavno pobjeći i nastaviti put dalje. Dio njih službeno je zatražio azil u Albaniji, ali to ne znači da će se dulje zadržati u zemlji. Ipak, očekuje se da će ubuduće albanske institucije biti znatno agresivnije u politici repatrijacije migranata. U tome će se susretati s brojnim pravnim i administrativnim problemima: kako objašnjavaju lokalni stručnjaci za migracije, Albanija sa zemljama iz kojih dolazi većina migranata – poput Sirije, Pakistana, Iraka i Afganistana – uopće nema diplomatske odnose niti pravne predstavnike u tim zemljama. Zbog toga je koordiniranje procesa repatrijacije gotovo nemoguće. Također, iako sporazum o repatrijaciji postoji s Grčkoj, njime je predviđeno da se u tu zemlju vraćaju samo oni za koje se može dokazati da su iz nje došli, a većina migranata koji dođu iz Grčke nastoji sakriti svaki trag svog boravka u toj zemlji.

U takvoj situaciji, čini se izvjesnim da će Albanija biti zemlja u kojoj će sve veći broj ljudi zapeti na neodređeno vrijeme. Prije nekih godinu i pol dana, izbila je javna panika s dosta rasističkih tonova. Nakon jednog nespretnog intervjua vladinog dužnosnika njemačkom mediju proširile su se glasine da će se u Albaniju naseliti šesto tisuća Sirijaca. Brojka je već na prvi pogled astronomska s obzirom na to da je stanovništvo zemlje oko tri milijuna ljudi, ali teorije zavjere se obično šire kao požar. Neki od drugorazrednih političara čak su pozvali na oružanu borbu ako dođu Sirijci. No ta je panika zapravo brzo prošla, ali tek nakon što je vlada obećala da neće primiti više izbjeglica od onog broja koji bude određen raspodjelom prema dogovoru u Uniji. Otad zapravo nema nekog osobitog antimigrantskog raspoloženja u javnosti, unatoč tome što tisuće ljudi prolazi kroz zemlju.
Europski san

Odnos je uglavnom onaj indiferencije. Tome pridonosi nekoliko stvari: činjenica da je gotovo trećina stanovništva Albanije također odselila u zemlje Unije,1 zatim to što ne postoje neke vjerske i ultranacionalističke stranke, ali najviše to što nitko od migranata nema nikakvu namjeru ostati u zemlji. No zašto je albanska vlada tako nestrpljiva da preda kontrolu granice i suverenitet, odnosno zašto je premijer Edi Rama izgledao tako entuzijastično prilikom ceremonije s Dimitrisom Avramopulosom, europskim povjerenikom za migracije, unutrašnje poslove i državljanstvo? Vlada se nada da će to ubrzati njezin put prema članstvu u Europskoj uniji. Posljednjih pet godina provela je čekajući otvaranje pristupnih pregovora, a predavanje kontrole nad granicom vidi kao još jednu ilustraciju svoje pripadnosti Uniji.

S druge strane, stalna politička kriza koju su izazvali studentski protesti u prosincu 2018., te kasnije bojkot parlamenta i lokalnih izbora od strane opozicijskih stranaka, stavlja neprestani pritisak na vladu. Očajnički treba pozitivan znak iz EU jer vodi političku i ideološku borbu protiv opozicije oko toga tko je autentičniji kulturni i politički predstavnik europejstva. Vlada naziva opoziciju i njezine nasilne prosvjede antieuropskima, dok opozicija optužuje vladu da svojom korupcijom i povezanošću s organiziranim kriminalom radi protiv europskih želja stanovništva. Prije nekoliko dana, Komisija je predložila početak pristupnih pregovora s Albanijom, no Europsko vijeće je to koje ima zadnju riječ. Očekuje se kako će sve ovisiti o toj odluci. Ideja Europe jedno je od čvorišta vladajuće ideologije koja se desetljećima gradi kao antipod komunizmu i Orijentu te historijska destinacija kojoj Albanci stoljećima teže.

Neoliberalna rekonstrukcija ekonomije i društva gotovo je uvijek legitimirana tvrdnjama kako su to nužni – iako bolni – koraci prema integraciji u Europsku uniju. Uspješnost ove ideologije ilustrira činjenica da otprilike 90% ispitanih u različitim studijama podržava Albansku integraciju u EU. U toj situaciji ne čudi ni odnos prema Frontexu.

►https://www.bilten.org/?p=28118

v. la new Frontex Regulation (octobre 2019) :
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/806961

Frontex expands operations in EU neighbouring countries

https://digit.site36.net/files/2019/11/Frontex_Albania-1024x683.jpg

After Albania and Montenegro, the EU Commission has concluded a Frontex status agreement with Serbia, to be followed by Northern Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. A first deployment of the EU border troops has meanwhile been increased.

The European Commission has now also signed an arrangement with Serbia on „cooperation on border management“. The so-called status agreement regulates the implementation of „Joint Operations“ with the EU border agency Frontex at the common borders with the European Union. It was already published by the Commission in January and has now been ratified by the Serbian Parliament. Kosovo’s territory is excluded.

The objectives of the agreement include the fight against irregular migration and cross-border crime in accordance with the Frontex Regulation. The EU also promises „increased technical and operational assistance“ to the Serbian border police.

Model status agreement for „priority third countries“

The negotiations with Serbia followed a model status agreement approved by the Commission under the „European Migration Agenda“ for operational cooperation with „priority third countries“. The Commission first concluded a status agreement with Albania a year ago, followed by a similar agreement with Montenegro on 7 October this year. Further status agreements with Bosnia-Herzegovina and Northern Macedonia have been negotiated but still need to be ratified by the national parliaments. The European Parliament must also give its assent.

Once all five status agreements have been signed, Frontex could be deployed throughout the whole Western Balkans with the exception of Kosovo. The EU Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos, describes the agreements as „yet one more step towards bringing the Western Balkan region closer to the EU“. All countries concerned are considered candidates for EU membership and the agreement to the Frontex operations is intended to facilitate the negotiations.

However, this rapprochement is likely to be damaged by the decision of the French government to refuse negotiations on EU membership to Northern Macedonia and Albania despite fulfilling the necessary conditions. The North Macedonian parliament could therefore delay the planned Frontex agreement. The same applies to Bosnia-Herzegovina, which France’s President Macron described as a „ticking time bomb“ for returning jihadists.

Police powers and immunity

The border police officers sent by Frontex from the EU Member States receive a special identity card from the country of deployment and wear their own uniforms with a blue Frontex armband. They will also carry weapons, ammunition and equipment from their sending state and may use force.

The troops enjoy immunity during Frontex operations. If a criminal offence is found, it will be prosecuted by the jurisdiction of the Member State of origin. Frontex team members also enjoy full protection against civil and administrative prosecution in the State of operation. The latter will also be liable for any damage caused by a member of the team during „all acts performed in the exercise of the official functions“.

Deployment plan agreed with Greece

Following the conclusion of the status agreement with Albania, it took six months for Frontex to launch its by now „first-ever joint operation“ on the territory of a neighbouring third country. According to Frontex, the governments in Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, the Netherlands, Romania, Poland and Slovenia have sent personnel to a total of 16 patrol vehicles and one thermovision car.

According to the operational plan, which Frontex says is agreed with the Greek government, the operation will take place along the entire „green“ border and, in addition to border surveillance in the sections Sopik, Çarçovë, Leskovik, Shtikë, Kapshticë and Livadhja, will include border control at the Albanian-Greek crossing points Kakavija, Tre Urat (Çarçovë), Kapshticë, Rips and Qafe Bote. Frontex has set up support offices in Gjirokaster, Kakavija and Kapshticë to coordinate operations.

In the meantime, the operation, which started with 50 EU officials, has grown to 66. One sixth comes from the German Federal Police, which also brought along six of the twelve patrol vehicles currently in use. In addition to operational border control, training measures are also planned in Albania. The operation will also facilitate the exchange of operational information and „best practices“.

No Albanian human rights groups involved

The new Frontex Regulation will apply from 4 December. The border agency will be then granted more powers and will set up a border troop of 10,000 border guards. The measures taken by Frontex should be observed by a Fundamental Rights Officer, among others. Frontex has also set up a Consultative Forum with non-governmental organisations to advise the Agency on how to prevent infringements.

For „Joint Operations“ in third countries, the Consultative Forum recommends involving human rights groups active there in the operational plan. However, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior, which sends eleven officers to Albania, has „no knowledge“ of the involvement of Albanian non-governmental organisations. The German Government also does not know which Albanian organisations might be asked to participate.

►https://digit.site36.net/2019/11/25/frontex-expands-operations-in-eu-neighbouring-countries

Infographic - Border management: agreements with non-EU countries

https://i.imgur.com/b2IxnFb.png

In our neighbouring country Bosnia and Herzegovina, the local authorities consider volunteers to disturb public order and peace by helping migrants. As a result, the work of some of them has been banned - you can read more about it in this article: ▻https://www.telegram.hr/politika-kriminal/vlasti-bih-smatraju-da-volonteri-remete-javni-red-i-mir-tako-sto-pomazu-mig. This is the last example of the criminalization of solidarity work, yet it’s not the only one: nowadays Europe is becoming more and more a place of repression towards those who are willing to oppose hate speech and intolerance, promoting and everyday practicing solidarity. You can read more about it in this article: ▻http://novilist.hr/Komentari/Kolumne/Pronadena-zemlja-Borisa-Pavelica/BORIS-PAVELIC-Brigade-bespomocnih?meta_refresh=true.

Reçu via la mailing-list Inicijativa Dobrodošli, le 31.05.2019

Migrants dying in Bosnia: Red Cross

Thousands of migrants and refugees are stranded in Bosnia on their way to Western Europe. They are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance. The international Red Cross says some have died while trying to find shelter.

About 6,000 people have entered Bosnia and Herzegovina since the start of the year, according to the country’s security agencies. But all the transit centers, which can accommodate around 3,500 people, are full, forcing thousands to sleep rough.

“People are sleeping in parks, in carparks, on the footpath, and in dangerous buildings,” said Indira Kulenovic, operations manager for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in Bosnia.

“A few weeks ago, three migrants sheltering in an abandoned building burned to death when a candle they were using caused a fire. Soon after, another fell from the top floor of a building he was sheltering in. Psychological stress among migrants is high – just last week one man set himself on fire in desperation,” Kulenovic said.

https://scd.infomigrants.net/media/resize/my_image_big/690dd2557f57f53a0eff91db3f1ac97f65d4a95e.jpeg

‘Humanitarian crisis’

Bosnia is on the route of thousands of people from Asia and North Africa who try to enter Europe via neighboring Croatia, an EU member state. Last year, about 25,000 people entered Bosnia from Serbia and Montenegro.

Mobile teams from the Bosnian Red Cross society have been handing out food, water, clothes, blankets and first aid to the migrants, as well as trying to provide psychological support.

Red Cross workers are also distributing information about active landmine fields to warn people of the dangers of unexploded bombs. Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the most landmine-contaminated countries in Europe.

https://scd.infomigrants.net/media/resize/my_image_big/680831613e7287fc9138d287d58ef938d7a668ce.jpeg

The Red Cross is working in five migrant centers across the country providing meals for 3,000 people a day, as well as clothing, bedding, tents and first aid. Meanwhile, the UN migration agency, IOM, is providing food supplies.

Despite their efforts, the head of the Bosnian Red Cross, Rajko Lazic, says living conditions for many people remain inadequate in the centers and worse for those outside. “The situation has reached a critical point. This is a humanitarian crisis,” Lazic said.

Disease outbreaks

In migrant reception centers, overcrowding has led to an increase in infectious diseases. The Bosnian health minister, Nermina Cemalovic, said on 15 May there were 800 cases of scabies in transit centers in Bihac, one of the western towns where migrants are concentrated.

Health workers have also been trying to prevent an outbreak of measles after aid workers were hospitalized with the disease.

“We are extremely concerned for people on the move in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” the IFRC’s Kulenovic said. “They are arriving in poor condition, and many, including children, have walked for weeks. They are hungry, exhausted, sick and cold and traumatized by their journeys. The recent wet weather has just made their journeys worse.”

Kulenovic added that the local population was also suffering from the pressure that extra numbers had put on services, land and property. The IFRC and the Red Cross Society of Bosnia aim to provide food, first aid and other assistance to 7,600 of the most vulnerable migrants as well as cash grants for 1,500 host families during 2019.

▻https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/17218/migrants-dying-in-bosnia-red-cross?ref=tw
#mourir_en_Bosnie #morts #décès #Kljuc #OIM #IOM #Croix-Route

La Bosnie, cul-de-sac pour les migrants

Sur la route des Balkans, les demandeurs d’asile dénoncent la violence de la police croate aux portes de l’Union européenne.

Le regard bute sur les montagnes, flanquées d’arbres pelés par l’hiver et recouvertes, à leur sommet, de nuages épais, si bien qu’on en discerne mal les contours. C’est vers cet horizon obstrué que s’engouffrent chaque jour des dizaines de personnes, dans l’espoir de passer, à pied, la frontière qui sépare la Bosnie-Herzégovine de la Croatie.

La route migratoire qui traverse les Balkans a déporté ici l’une de ses étapes après que plusieurs États (dont la Hongrie et la Slovénie) aient fermé leurs frontières au nord de cet itinéraire. Depuis 2018, Afghans, Pakistanais, Syriens ou encore Algériens empruntent ce chemin après être arrivés en Europe par la frontière greco-turque, et être remontés par l’Albanie et le Monténégro ou bien la Macédoine du Nord et la Serbie. Les flux sont sans commune mesure avec ceux de 2015 mais l’application des Croates, pays candidat à l’entrée dans Schengen, à tenir leur frontière a transformé le nord-ouest de la Bosnie en cul-de-sac.

« C’est une crise humanitaire créée de façon politique »

Il y aurait entre 7 000 et 9 000 migrants dans le pays, essentiellement dans le canton d’#Una_Sana, limitrophe de la Croatie. Une partie vit dans des maisons ou des usines abandonnées, des gares, à la rue ou encore dans des bois. « C’est une crise humanitaire créée de façon politique », répète Peter Van der Auweraert, le représentant de l’Organisation internationale pour les migrations (OIM) en Bosnie. Le pays offre moins de 5 000 places de mises à l’abri, gérées par l’OIM et financées par l’UE.

Dans la ville frontalière de Bihac, où les stigmates de la guerre civile balafrent encore les édifices du centre-ville, une ancienne usine de réfrigérateurs accueille par exemple 2 000 personnes, dont 400 mineurs non accompagnés, dans des containers. Il arrive que la police limite les sorties des migrants, sans d’autre raison apparente que celle de réduire leur présence en ville. François Giddey, coordinateur de Médecins sans frontières (MSF) en Bosnie, déplore « un espace humanitaire extrêmement restreint car toute structure d’aide est considérée comme un facteur d’attractivité ».

Tous les soirs, des policiers font descendre des dizaines de migrants du train en provenance de Sarajevo, à son entrée dans le canton d’Una Sana, dans la petite gare du village d’Otoka Bosanska. Cette nuit-là, ils sont une quarantaine à être débarqués. L’ONG Danish Refugee Council est autorisée à leur donner un snack avant qu’ils ne soient montés dans un bus pour être déposés deux kilomètres plus loin, en rase campagne, à la limite de la République serbe de Bosnie. « Des passeurs nous feront rejoindre Bihac », sait d’avance un Marocain.

A leur tour, lui et d’autres tenteront leur chance à travers la frontière, un jeu de piste sans joie surnommé « game » par les migrants, qui fait son lot de gagnants et de perdants. Un matin de décembre, on croise une quinzaine de personnes qui ont rebroussé chemin. Hadi Sayed, un Syrien de 30 ans originaire d’Idlib, voyage avec son fils de 10 ans. « On a marché six heures et on a dormi dans une vieille maison dans la montagne, raconte cet homme. Mais le matin, il neigeait, alors on a abandonné ». C’est déjà la troisième fois que Hadi Sayed échoue à passer en Croatie.
Refoulements illégaux et violents récurrents

« La première fois, la police croate nous a attrapés alors qu’on avait passé la frontière, rapporte-t-il. Ils ont menacé de tuer ceux qui avaient tenté de fuir. Avant de nous ramener à la frontière, ils nous ont pris nos téléphones, nos sacs et notre nourriture et ils ont frappé ceux qui avaient tenté de cacher leur téléphone ». Les témoignages de migrants qui dénoncent les refoulements illégaux et violents sont ici récurrents.

Début décembre, la commissaire aux droits de l’homme du Conseil de l’Europe, Dunja Mijatovic, a fait état de sa « grave préoccupation ». « J’ai déjà abordé ce sujet avec le premier ministre de Croatie en octobre 2018. La situation n’a fait qu’empirer depuis ».

Dans le camp de l’OIM à Bihac, Mohamed Bilal présente une jambe droite fracturée et plâtrée. « Lors de ma troisième tentative, les policiers croates nous ont ramenés à la frontière et nous ont fait sortir de leur véhicule un par un, explique le jeune pakistanais. On a dû passer entre deux rangées de policiers qui nous ont battus avec des bâtons ». Ismatullah Rahemi, lui, se déplace en fauteuil roulant car ses deux pieds sont bandés et l’un est encore boursouflé jusqu’à la cheville par une infection. Cet Afghan assure que la police croate lui a confisqué ses chaussures à la frontière, malgré la neige. « Ils ont pris nos sacs, nos téléphones, nos habits et nos chaussures, et ils les ont brûlés, confie-t-il. Ensuite, ils nous ont frappés, ils nous ont poussés dans la rivière jusqu’au torse et ils nous ont laissés en caleçon et en tee-shirt. On a marché douze kilomètres ».

A Velika Kladusa, une autre ville frontalière, dans une maison abandonnée, comme le pays – touché par l’émigration de sa propre population – en compte en grand nombre, six Algériens attendent que le « game » leur sourit, serrés dans une pièce glaciale de leur squat, sans eau, sans électricité, et aux fenêtres béantes. Ils ont déjà tenté trois ou sept fois, ont été arrêtés par les Croates après sept ou dix jours de marche dans la forêt. « On ne nous a pas laissés demander l’asile », jure l’un d’eux. Ils décrivent les mêmes pratiques, leurs affaires incendiées, les coups, le passage obligatoire par la rivière… Ils évoquent des hommes en uniforme noir ou bleu marine, cagoulés.
« Dérive » d’une unité spéciale de la police

Il arrive que des refoulements aient lieu bien au-delà de la ligne frontalière. Hamza, un Algérien de 27 ans, affirme avoir été repoussé depuis la Slovénie. Alaa Asar, Ahmed Aser, Mohamed Eldeyasty et El-Sayed Elmezayen, quatre Egyptiens de 17 ans rencontrés à Bihac, assurent qu’ils ont été refoulés alors qu’ils étaient présents en Croatie depuis plus d’un mois, hébergés et même scolarisés à Split. « Des policiers nous ont arrêtés devant un supermarché et renvoyés Bosnie », témoigne Alaa Asar. Contactée, la directrice du centre de services communautaires de Split (une institution publique de protection sociale à destination des enfants), Marija Tešija, confirme au Monde que les quatre jeunes « sont restés au sein de [l’]institution pendant le mois d’octobre ». « On est dans une Union où de plus en plus de gouvernements ne font même plus semblant de respecter leurs engagements européens », déplore un fonctionnaire européen.

Le directeur de cabinet du premier ministre croate, Zvonimir Frka-Petesic, considère au contraire que « la police croate fait un travail à la fois efficace et humain, et fournit beaucoup d’efforts pour rendre la frontière la moins poreuse possible ». « A chaque fois qu’il y a eu des accusations, des enquêtes ont été diligentées et il n’y a aucun fait avéré », ajoute-t-il.

Le 9 décembre, le site d’information croate Net.hr a pourtant évoqué dans une enquête la « dérive » d’une unité spéciale de la police, Corridor, créée en 2017 pour lutter contre les migrations illégales. L’unité se concentrerait sur l’expulsion vers la Bosnie voisine de migrants, prenant de plus en plus la forme de groupes opérationnels mobiles sans commandement formel. M. Frka-Petesic dément « catégoriquement » la présence à la frontière de policiers cagoulés, tels que souvent décrits par les migrants. « Il n’y a pas de milice d’appoint qui joue les shérifs », évacue-t-il.

Interviewée par Net.hr, la médiatrice croate Lora Vidovic – l’équivalent du Défenseur des droits en France – dit ignorer l’existence d’unités spéciales mais évoque les « nombreuses plaintes de migrants », corroborées par des témoignages anonymes internes aux forces de l’ordre. Les 16 et 27 novembre, la police croate a blessé par balles deux migrants dans la région de Gorski Kotar, limitrophe de la Slovénie. Dans le premier cas, la version officielle veut que le policier ait glissé et tiré accidentellement.

▻https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2019/12/30/en-croatie-on-ne-nous-a-pas-laisses-demander-l-asile_6024367_3210.html

Illegal push-backs and border violence reports

https://i.imgur.com/Pdc3SDv.png https://i.imgur.com/8MEOlDl.png

Et un rapport sur #Sid, en #Serbie :

https://i.imgur.com/WjKDVPb.png

The U.S. Department of State published a Human Rights Report for Croatia for 2018, where a significant part is dedicated to the abusing of migrants, refugees, and stateless persons as well as the protection of refugees:
▻https://hr.usembassy.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/233/CROATIA_2018_HUMAN_RIGHTS_REPORT_HR.pdf
Reçu par mail via la mailing-list Inicijativa Dobrodosli, le 29.04.2019:

https://i.imgur.com/0TesqDB.png

Commentaire en anglais :

the Asylum Protection Centre published photos and information that more than 50 people were violently pushed back by the Croatian police back to Serbia, near Šid. They were heavily beaten with police bats on legs and back. The people describe being beaten, robbed of their belongings, having their phones destroyed, all between April 19 and 22.

►https://medium.com/are-you-syrious/ays-daily-digest-23-4-19-weekend-of-violent-push-backs-from-croatia-and-bosn

The situation in #Šid is worsening - many people are arriving to Serbia and trying to cross the border, while at the same time weather conditions are getting worse, with temperatures getting lower and lower. The police began emptying the streets and spaces used by refugees for temporary accommodation and taking people into camps at the border, which are overcrowded and in very poor conditions. On Friday the police cleared the streets in Šid (►https://www.facebook.com/NoNameKitchenBelgrade/videos/973792239674633) and several makeshift lodgings in the city, including a squatted area where 30 minors were living. They took people into a police station and later to a camp. The police action in the weekend involved more than 150 people in Šid and the surrounding area. Moreover, a reception center in Preševo, in which people will be accommodated during the winter, has reopened (▻http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/125/drustvo/3754805/prihvatni-centar-u-presevu-ponovo-otvoren.html).

Reçu via Inicijativa dobrodosli, mail du 04.11.2019.

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In the early hours of Friday, 22nd November 2019 a large-scale police eviction took place in Šid, Serbia. Some might recall the illegal burning of a migrant encampment close to the border of October 20th, among many others. Sweeping all squats and unofficial settlements, the recent operation aimed to remove all undocumented people in transit from the streets of Šid. The action targeted approximately 150 people in and around Šid. The largest eviction of people was carried out at the settlement in the former Grafosrem industrial facility, but was accompanied by the clearance of multiple other smaller squats throughout the city. Authorized by municipality of Šid and supported by regional police, as well as units from Sremska Mitrovica and Belgrade, the apprehensions started at 06:00 am.

Outwardly justified as a measure to meet the security concerns of the local population, the operation is clearly part of a larger scheme of internal displacement being realized throughout Serbia during the past week. No Name Kitchen strongly condemn the forced removal of systemically marginalised communities, and the ruthlessness used during these operations.

Concerning the eviction of the Grafosrem squat, there was no official notice given or information on a relocation operation. While around 50 officers conducted the physical apprehension of the ca. 110 people living there, the deputy mayor Zoran Semenović was also in attendance, declaring the abandoned factory site to be his property, loudly insulting NNK volunteers that were present and – together with police - removing these witnesses from the area.

The removal of the inhabitants was followed by the “cleansing” of the grounds - making use of a bulldozer, two forklift trucks, and around 30 workers of the municipality, along with multiple transport vehicles. Under the eyes of the media present, the entirety of the people’s belongings such as cell phones, power banks, clothing, electricity supply, personal money, 40 tents, over 200 blankets and sleeping bags were confiscated by city workers. The flattening of the Grafosrem surroundings lasted until nightfall.

No information on the confiscated possessions was given to NNK, despite requests by volunteers. It is likely these items - provided by NNK and charitable donations from across the region - were destroyed by the authorities, when the hundred plus people were forcibly removed from the site. Similar actions were carried out at various other smaller squat settlements (this time only by police authorities). Persons apprehended did not receive preliminary eviction notices and were conveyed to the local police station to give their information before being removed to reception camps, such as Kikinda and Pirot. Minors were reported to have been taken to Sjenica or housing around Belgrade.

In the days after the operation, volunteers in Šid have been under constant scrutiny. Private people have been observed monitoring the volunteer’s house and filming use of the organisations vehicle. Even the mayor himself began to harass volunteers with his car when they were documenting the remains of the settlements.

Several key questions arise following Fridays events. Do fundamental rights still exist for Serbia’s transit population? What awaits these people in the camps across the country to which they have been forcibly removed? And locally, did Zoran Semenović act in an official capacity when claiming to be the owner of Grafosrem? What will happen to the confiscated possesions of the people expelled in this operation? Will they be returned or wilfully destroyed?

This goes connected with this new agreement: “the European Union signed an agreement with Serbia on border management cooperation between Serbia and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex)”.

Text by: Davy Jones

We’re sorry for the delay in reporting about the situation, but the volunteers there are overwhelmed.
It would be great if someone could manage to go there and take sleeping bags, tents and other materials.

►https://www.facebook.com/NoNameKitchenBelgrade/videos/973792239674633

ENS MOVEM - Semana del 20 al 26 de enero de 2020

Through short audio recordings, independent volunteers and volunteers working for small organizations in Greece and some of the EU’s external borders report weekly on their daily work and the dire conditions in which refugees and migrants are living. The audios are in Spanish and, time permitting, subtitles are also provided in Serbo-Croatian and English. When not, the original Spanish transcription is edited to ensure, as far as possible, that an accurate machine translation into English helps you follow these updates.

▻https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxWmB5gT5Dk&feature=youtu.be

#Sid #Šid #Velika_Kladusa
–-> Mais aussi #Patras

News from Šid :

Saturday morning, when NNK volunteers came to the Squat as part of their daily routine in the town of Šid, police was already present - together with the owner of the property and a bunch of workers who were supposed to cut down bushes surrounding the Squat.

However, some of them - together with police - started to set tents on fire that they found in the bushes, collected people’s belongings on a pile and set it on fire as well, while other workers tried to steal items that they deemed valuable. When the volunteers tried to put off the fire and prevent the workers from stealing more stuff, things got more violent. Police pushed and grabbed the volunteers, and one of the workers got particularly aggressive and even started hitting them. Before they finally left, they also destroyed a tire of the NNK van.

From their own car was hanging a black flag with a skull symbol, and one of the workers was wearing a “traditional” looking hat. Later we found out that he was not a pirate fan with a penchant for Serbian folklore, but according to neighbours and the clothes that the man was wearing, it might be a supporter of the far-right Chetnik movement. (The Chetniks originated in the Second World War with the aim of creating an ethnically homogenous Serbia, and were responsible for the killings of approximately 50.000 Muslims and Croats.)

https://i.imgur.com/35tdfFp.jpg

Témoignage #audio d’un volontaire de No name kitchen depuis #Šid

Through short audio recordings, independent volunteers and volunteers working for small organizations in some sites of the EU’s external and internal borders report weekly on their daily work and the dire conditions in which refugees and migrants are living. The audios are in Spanish and subtitles are also provided in Serbo-Croatian and English.
The objective of this project is to help give visibility to what is (still) happening at our borders, providing weekly updates of the situation. Here you will find this week’s audio-video, as well as all the previous ones. Thank you for helping us spread the word!

▻https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OL9fLNSTtrM&feature=youtu.be

#campement #témoignage #Sid

–—

Dans cet audio, il y a aussi d’autres témoignages, notamment depuis #Patras et #Lesbos, en #Grèce

Reçu via la newsletter Inicijativa Dobrodosli, le 02.08.2019 :

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, two people lost their lives this week, one in #Bihać (►https://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/u-bihacu-umro-migrant-spavao-je-na-pruzi-kad-je-na-njega-naletio-vlak/2105526.aspx) and one in #Polje (►https://www.radiovkladusa.ba/u-naselju-polje-pronadjeno-bezivotno-tijelo-migranta). Uncertain and inhumane living conditions and the absence of legal and safe roads have once again proved fatal for those in need of safety.

#Bihac #2019

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U Bihaću umro migrant, spavao je na pruzi kad je na njega naletio vlak

SINOĆ je na pruzi u Bihaću od udara vlaka iz smjera Sarajeva poginuo jedan migrant, javlja Klix.ba.

Nesreća se dogodila oko 00:25 na pruzi u blizini Jablaničke ulice kod benzinske pumpe Čavkunović, potvrdio je glasnogovornik MUP-a Unsko-sanskog kantona Ale Šiljdedić.

Migrant je navodno spavao, nije čuo sirene upozorenja

Prema riječima svjedoka, vlak se pokušao zaustaviti, ali neuspješno. Migrant je navodno spavao i nije se uspio skloniti s pruge premda su ga sirene upozoravale da se nalazi na mjestu kojem se približava vlak.

Policajci su odmah izašli na teren, a obaviješteno je i tužiteljstvo.

Nije poznato iz koje zemlje dolazi nesretni čovjek koji je preminuo na pruzi.

►https://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/u-bihacu-umro-migrant-spavao-je-na-pruzi-kad-je-na-njega-naletio-vlak/2105526.aspx

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U naselju Polje pronađeno beživotno tijelo migranta

Jučer je u Velikoj Kladuši, prema još uvijek neutvrđenim okolnostima, smrtno stradala muška osoba za koju se pretpostavlja da je migrant, potvrdio je za naš Radio portparol MUP-a USK Ale Šiljdedić.

Naime, policijski službenici, u 16:55h, zaprimili su dojavu da se na spratu jedne kuće, u naselju Polje nalazi tijelo nepoznatog muškarca. Slučaj je prijavila uposlenica trgovine koja se nalazi u prizemlju pomenute kuće.

Policijski službenici su po dolasku na teren utvrdili da se radi o beživotnom tijelu, za sada, još uvijek neidentificirane muške osobe. Kako je naveo Šiljdedić, najvjerovatnije je riječ o migrantu, koji je pronađen sa teškim povredama u predjelu glave. Pretpostavlja se da je do smrti došlo usljed nesretnog slučaja, ali se ne isključuje ni mogućnost krivičnog djela. Više informacija bit će poznato nakon što se završi obdukcija tijela.

►https://www.radiovkladusa.ba/u-naselju-polje-pronadjeno-bezivotno-tijelo-migranta

K.A.(30) migrant from Algeria, died on last Friday after being struck by a power stream while trying to board a train in Sid for Croatia.According to witnesses,after the fall,he was giving signs of life for another 2hours in the presence of police,but ambulance didn’t arrive timely

▻https://twitter.com/APC_CZA/status/1105362261470793728

LLEGAL PUSH-BACKS AND BORDER VIOLENCE REPORT

https://i.imgur.com/yCycz5C.png https://i.imgur.com/gLlGfmQ.png

On fait mention dans ce rapport de #push-back_en_chaîne entre l’#Allemagne et la Serbie :

https://i.imgur.com/AFP6CE3.png

Garaža za mučenje migranata

“Policija je dovela njih sedmero u garažu u Korenicu, gdje su im oduzeli sve stvari. Slomili su im mobitele, uništili punjače. Uzeli su im novac, cigarete i hranu. Kad su skinuli odjeću policajci su ih počeli tući rukama, laktovima, nogama”. U posljednjih pola godine pojavila su se višestruka svjedočanstva koja ukazuju na to da hrvatska policija pritvara i muči izbjeglice i migrante u garaži u policijskoj postaji u Korenici. Garaža s plavim vratima, u kojoj, kako se opisuje u svjedočanstvima, izbjeglice i migranti bivaju pretučeni i izgladnjivani, nalazi se svega par metara od dječjeg igrališta.

U više izvještaja različitih organizacija, a najnovije i u posljednjem izvještaju Border Violence Monitoringa, opisuju se garažna mjesta za pritvaranja i zlostavljanje, koja po opisu mogu odgovarati policijskoj postaji u Korenici, koja je zbog blizina granice često u službi odvraćanja izbjeglica i migranta natrag u Bosnu i Hercegovinu.

Prema posljednjim svjedočanstvima u travnju je grupa muškaraca iz Sirije, Alžira i Maroka, uhvaćena blizu granice sa Slovenijom, odvedena u garažu u Korenicu i zatim vraćena natrag u Bosnu i Hercegovinu. Izrazili su namjeru za službenim traženjem azila, ali im je odbijen pristup proceduri, iako na nju imaju zakonsko pravo.

“Policija je dovela njih sedmero u garažu u Korenicu, gdje su im oduzeli sve stvari. Slomili su im mobitele, uništili punjače. Uzeli su im novac, cigarete i hranu. Jednoj su osobi uzeli čak i naočale. U prostoru je samo prljavi pod, bez deka, spužvi, wc-a. Morali su na njemu ležati, iako je bilo užasno hladno. Kad su skinuli odjeću policajci su ih počeli tući rukama, laktovima, nogama. Imali su i elektrošokere i pepper sprej, koje su koristili nekoliko puta. Svi su ljudi plakali”, stoji u svjedočanstvu.

Prva svjedočanstva i opisi garaže pojavili su se u prosincu prošle godine, od strane migranata koji su nakon prelaska granice u Hrvatsku uhićeni, odvedeni u “garažu” pa protjerani natrag u Bosnu i Hercegovinu, bez da im je omogućeno pravo da u Hrvatskoj zatraže azil.

U prosincu 2018. godine, kako je evidentirao Border Violence Monitoring, grupu Alžiraca je nakon prelaska granice pokupio kombi s policajcima u maskirnim uniformama, koji su izgledali kao vojska. Odveli su ih u garažu.

“Policijska postaja je ispred garaže. Dvorište je između policijske postaje i garaže. Unutra je umiovaonik i grijalica, te svjetla na stropu. Prostorija je malena. Nema prozora, samo plava vrata”, stoji u opisu. Istaknuli su kako je bilo hladno te zbog hladnoće nisu mogli spavati. Policajci su, navodi se, s njima pričali nasilno te su im odbili dati hranu.

Naposljetku su, s drugim migrantima koji su već bili u garaži, bez da im se omogući da zatraže azil, izbačeni u planinama i poslani da hodaju natrag u Bosnu satima. Kad su izišli iz kombija, policajci su naložili vatru u koju su bacili sve njihove stvari. “Jedan je policajac htio uzeti i deku u kojoj je bila umotana djevojčica iz iračke obitelji, ali ga je drugi policajac zaustavio da to ne napravi”, navodi se u svjedočanstvu. Vreće za spavanje i šatori su završili u plamenu.

“Policija radi što hoće”, komentar je koji se učestalo čuje među brojnim izbjeglicama koji su više puta protjerani iz Hrvatske. Većina odvraćenih i protjeranih u Velikoj Kladuši, gradu blizu granice u kojem smo nedavno bili, žale se upravo najgorljivije na hrvatsku policiju.

I mještani Velike Kladuše, pogotovo oni koji svakodnevno pomažu izbjeglicama i migrantima, ističu kako ljudi s granice dolaze izmučeni i gladni, nerijetko s modricama, ožiljcima, otvorenim ranama. “Svi ti prizori podsjećaju me na zadnji rat, jedino što nema bombardiranja”, komentira nam jedna mještanka. Nasilje koje provodi hrvatska granična policija tako je postalo svakodnevna tema.

Krajem prošle godine pojavljuje se još jedno svjedočanstvo o “garaži”, u kojem stoji: “Stavili su nas u ćeliju, ali to zapravo nije ćelija, nego više kao garaža, s plavim vratima i pločicama. Ispred je parkiralište i policijska postaja”. “Kad nas je policija uhvatila, nisu nam dali ništa. Tamo je bio neki stari kruh, dosta star. Zatražio sam taj kruh, ali mi ga nisu dali”, opisuje jedan od migranata.

Ponukani ovim svjedočanstvima i opisima garaže za mučenje, nedavno smo posjetili Korenicu. Na ulazu u Korenicu primjećujemo jedan policijski auto parkiran kraj šume, i policajca koji se upravo izvlači iz šume prema autu. Tijekom zimskih mjeseci mogli smo čitati kako “službenici postaje granične policije Korenice provode mjere pojačanog suzbijanja nezakonitih migracija”. U razgovoru s mještanima doznajemo kako su pojačane policijske snage u okolici u posljednje vrijeme, a izbjeglice i migrante se intenzivno traži po okolnim brdima.

Prilikom našeg kratkog boravka u Korenici, ispred policijske postaje se izmijenio velik broj policajaca, dolazili su i odlazili autima i kombijima. Osim policajaca u redovnim uniformama, bilo je i obučenih u tamnozelene uniforme. U postaju dolaze i kombiji bez policijskih oznaka, a prisutni su i policajci u civilnoj odjeći.

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Prednji dio postaje sastoji se od velike zgrade s mnogo prozora, dok je unutarnji dio kompleksa ograđen i s malim dvorištem na kojem je parkirano nekoliko policijskih automobila i kombija, uz prostorije koje nalikuju na garaže, s plavim vratima. Te prostorije s jedne strane gledaju i na obližnje dječje igralište i na tom dijelu nema nijednog prozora. U dvorištu se nalaze i Toi Toi WC-i.

U najnovijem svjedočanstvu koje je dokumentirao Border Violence Monitoring stoji: “Možemo ići samo dva puta dnevno na zahod, ujutro i navečer. Za ovo nas se vodi van u dvorište, gdje se nalaze tri plastična WC-a”, što ukazuje da postoji mogućnost da se radi upravo o ovoj policijskoj postaji. Aktivisti nam potvrđuju kako su svjedočanstva o “garaži” postala učestalija i sve detaljnija u opisima.

I u svjedočanstvima iz ožujka izbjeglice i migranti navode kako su bili zatvoreni satima bez vode i hrane, te su iz nužde morali urinirati u kutu prostorije. “Bili smo kao kokoši. Ne želim se prisjećati tog trenutka. Bili smo poput životinja”, opisuje jedan migrant. “Pod je betoniran, hladno je, moramo spavati na njemu. Postoji samo jedna slavina za vodu i mali grijač na zidu. Vrata su plava i na njima je ispisano na mnogo jezika, datumi, imena i mjesta. Pakistanski, alžirski, marokanski, iranski, sirijski, odasvud”, opisuje se.

Kad su pušteni iz pritvora garaže, kažu, policija ih je ostavila u planinskom području i poslala da hodaju kilometrima natrag prema Bihaću. Učestalo se spominje oduzimanje novca i mobitela i vrijednih stvari koje migranti sa sobom nose.

Procedure odvraćanja izbjeglica i migranata obično se izvode iza zatvorenih vrata i u skrovitim područjima, čime se umanjuje rizik da će biti onih koji će im svjedočiti. Paralelu možemo povući i sa tzv. trećestupanjskim policijskim ispitivanjima.

“Većina trećestupanjskih ispitivanja događala se tijekom pritvaranja na izoliranim lokacijama, uključujući policijske postaje, garaže, ponekad i hotele i mrtvačnice. Ali obično se takva mučenja događaju u pozadinskim sobama, incommunicado prostorijama, posebno dizajniranima u ove svrhe. U javnosti se postojanje takvih prostorija poriče, a njihovo održavanje zahtjeva šutnju čitavog sustava. Policija je rijeko kažnjavana za brutalne metode ispitivanja, korištene za izvlačenje priznanja, ali i da se ’nepoželjne’ otjera iz grada”, navodi se u radu Police Interrogation and Coercion in Domestic American History: Lessons for the War on Terror, Richarda A. Leoa i Alexe Koenig.

“Ovakve prakse postaju sredstvo putem kojeg policija nadilazi svoju ispitivačku ulogu, pojačava svoju moć i zaobilazi ulogu koja je dizajnirana kako bi se spriječila koncentracija i zlouporaba moći od strane države”, zaključuju autori.

Brutalne prakse zlostavljanja i prisilnih protjerivanja koje provode policijski službenici na hrvatskoj granici i o kojima sad već postoje kontinuirana i detaljna svjedočanstva, protivne su i domaćim i međunarodnim zakonima te direktivama.

“Premlaćivanje i deportacija ljudi protivni su zabrani kolektivnih protjerivanja (Članak 4 Protokola 4 ECHR) i zabrani mučenja i nečovječnog ili ponižavajućeg postupanja ili kazni (Članak 3 ECHR)”, navodi se u Petom izvještaju o nezakonitim protjerivanjima i nasilju Republike Hrvatske, koji su nedavno objavile organizacije Are You Syrious?, Centar za mirovne studije i Incijativa Dobrodošli.

Vraćanje migranata u Bosnu i Hercegovinu bez uzimanja u obzir osobnih okolnosti svakog pojedinog slučaja, a posebice zanemarujući njihovu potrebu za međunarodnom zaštitom, pa čak i na izričito traženje azila, uporaba sredstava prisile te ponižavanje ozbiljna su povreda izbjegličkih i migantskih prava, ali i enorman prijestup MUP-a, na što je upozoravala i pučka pravobraniteljica.

MUP-u smo uputili upit za komentar o opžubama za nasilje i mučenje od strane hrvatske policije, kao i za slučaj “garaže” koju se povezuje s policijskom postajom u Korenici. Upitali smo ih i jesu li, s obzirom na svjedočanstva koja se pojavljuju od prosinca, reagirali na optužbe i posvetili se detaljnoj istrazi i uvidu u potencijalne prijestupe i prekoračenja policijske ovlasti u Korenici. Do zaključenja teksta odgovor na upite nismo dobili.

Kada su u pitanju optužbe za policijsko nasilje, u prijašnjim reakcijama iz MUP-a su isticali kako “prilikom postupanja prema migrantima policija poštuje njihova temeljna prava i dostojanstvo te im omogućuje pristup sustavu međunarodne zaštite, ukoliko im je takva zaštita potrebna, sukladno općim dokumentima o ljudskim pravima, regulativi EU-a te nacionalnom zakonodavstvu. Želimo naglasiti nultu stopu tolerancije ovog ministarstva na nezakonitu uporabu sredstava prisile od strane hrvatske policije naspram bilo koje populacije, kao i nultu stopu tolerancije nad neprocesuiranjem bilo kojeg kaznenog djela ili prekršaja počinjenog od strane policijskih službenika”.

Kako je moguće da se u zemlji “nulte stope tolerancije na nezakonitu upotrebu sredstava prisile” kontinuirano pojavljuju svjedočanstva o garažama za mučenje? Ostaje nam zapitati se je li zaista moguće da su sva ova detaljna svjedočanstva, koja se u mnogočemu podudaraju, prikupljena u različitim vremenskim periodima, od ljudi čiji se putevi uglavnom nisu sreli, lažna? Volonteri i aktivisti koji prikupljaju svjedočanstva također se rotiraju i dolaze iz različitih organizacija, pa je i njihova “sugestivnost” faktor koji bi se moglo prekrižiti.

Garaža za mučenje mali je prostor, ali je bijeg od suočavanja s njenim postojanjem velik i indikativan. Arundhati Roy piše: “Ne postoje oni koji nemaju glas. Postoje samo oni koji su namjerno ušutkani i oni koje biramo da ne čujemo.”

▻https://www.h-alter.org/vijesti/garaza-za-mucenje-migranata
#Korenica

Commentaire reçu par email de Inicijativa Dobrodosli, le 22.05.2019 :

H-alter published a text based on refugee testimonies and previously published reports of torture in a blue-coloured door garage that may correspond to the description of the police station in Korenica, located near the children’s playground. The testimonies describe denial of food, limited use of toilet and physical violence that occurs not only at the border but also in the depths of the Croatian territory.

‘Nobody Hears You’ : Migrants, Refugees Beaten on Balkan Borders

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Migrants and refugees say they continue to face violence at the hands of police while trying to cross the Balkan peninsula.

It was supposed to have closed. But migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Asia and Africa are still crossing the Balkan peninsula en route to Western Europe. Many report brutality at the hands of the police.

In April this year, some 3,600 migrants and refugees – mainly from Afghanistan and Iran – were registered in Serbia, according to the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR.

Bosnia last year registered 25,000, though only 3,500 chose to stay in the country while the rest crossed quickly into European Union member Croatia.

No Name Kitchen, NNK, an NGO assisting migrants and refugees, says police violence is on the rise.

Between May 2017 and May last year, NNK recorded 215 reported cases of push-backs by Croatian police to Serbia, of which 45 per cent involved physical violence.

Between May 2017 and December last year, there were 141 push-backs from Croatia to Bosnia, NNK reported, of which 84 per cent involved violence.

Croatian authorities denied police used violence against migrants and refugees, telling BIRN that such accusations were often made up.

BIRN journalists spoke to a number of refugees and migrants in Serbia, Bosnia and Slovenia about their experiences with Croatian police. Most chose to be identified only by their first names.

Ahmed: ‘Nobody hears you’

“They make the music loud and start beating us, one by one. With sticks, electrical sticks…,” said Ahmed, a Moroccan who had spent the past month in a migrant camp in the small Serbian border town of Sid.

Ahmed said he had tried several times to cross the nearby border into Croatia, running a gauntlet known among migrants and refugees as ‘The Game’, but had been turned back each time by Croatian police.

“I’ve been captured and they turn me back, beat me and turn me back,” he told BIRN. “They would come out from the car, one by one and they start, like that until you scream and nobody hears you,” he said.

Ali: ‘Police have no heart’

Ali and a group of friends had made it into Croatia from Bosnia in April and walked for six days in the direction of Slovenia.

“Police officers, they caught us and after that, they brought us in the police station and we were for four hours in the police station like a prisoner and after that… they beat us,” he told BIRN in the northwestern Bosnian town of Bihac, a hub for migrants and refugees trying to cross the Croatian border.

“Police have no heart. They don’t want to see that the guys are human. It’s really horrible.”

Nue: ‘I don’t have a country’

Some of those BIRN spoke to said they were fleeing repression in their own countries.

Nue, a Palestinian now also stuck in Sid, said: “My country, I don’t have a country because I am from Palestine… I have ID just to say I am from Palestine.”

Nue said that when he tried to cross the border, he was caught by the Croatian police. He pointed to a cut on his head.

“When he’s [the police officer] catching me, he does like this,” he said, imitating being beaten. “I have to just stay in the tent because maybe I have a problem in my head because [the beating was] very strong.”

Nue said he was now sleeping in the street.

Another man, in the centre of Sid, said police were also violent towards his wife, who was nine months pregnant when BIRN spoke to the couple.

“They don’t care if she’s pregnant or not,” he said. “There is no human qualities in them, you understand. I never seen such people.”

Muhamed: Old and new injuries

Muhamed, from Tunisia, said he had been in Serbia for six weeks having been beating by police on the Croatian border.

“They done with you everything,” he said, and showed injuries he said were inflicted the day before by Croatian police.

Muhamed said he was beaten for 10 minutes and then sent back to Serbia.

“Everytime, doing this, everytime, look, this old and this new,” he said, pointing to the bruises and cuts.

Khalid: It was necessary

In a migrant camp in Slovenia, Khalid, from Eritrea, said he had been deported back to Bosnia eight times.

“I came to Ljubljana by walk,” he said.

“[Croatian police] deported me eight times – four times to [Velika Kladusa] and four times to Bihac. They beat us, and they take [our] phones. They make many things.”

Though he personally had not faced violence, Khalid said he knew of many others who had.

“All the people now, they forget everything because they crossed the borders and also we have to tell them sorry, we cross your country… It was necessary to do it.”

Activist: ‘It’s worse and worse’

Diego Menjibar, an activist with No Name Kitchen, told BIRN:

“They are beaten by batons in borders. Also, with fist, kicking them. We have a lot of cases every week of people beaten with batons, with physical violence, also verbal violence and some of them, they also passed out while they [were] beat, so we have a doctor here.”

Menjibar spoke in a disused factory in Sid that is now filled with tents for migrants and refugees. Roughly 100 pass through the camp each day.

“We talk with the people in the squat and we listen what they say and every time it’s worse and worse,” he said.

Beaten around the legs

In April, Swiss broadcaster SRF and the crew of the TV programme “Rundschau” spent three weeks in the fields on the Bosnian-Croatian border speaking to migrants and refugees in the moment after they were turned back by Croatian police.

“I was literally running after these people when they came down [after being deported],” SRF journalist Nicole Vögele told BIRN. “I was aware that now what we really need is a full line of evidence.”

In May, SRF broadcast a piece showing Croatian police pushing back migrants and refugees into Bosnia. Vögele said many sustained injuries to their legs from being beaten by police with sticks.

“Most of them were showing me the [lower] parts of the legs,” Vögele said. “Two days later, I asked them if they have same traces because just an hour after the beating, as you can imagine you can see a bit of red. But two days later it is clearly visible.”

In the SRF report, an Afghan family, including small children, spoke of bring stopped in the forest by Croatian policemen.

“They pointed their guns at us and said ‘Stop’. We were very scared and cried,” said the oldest of the children. When the family asked for asylum, the police officers laughed and said that they would be given “Bosnian asylum” – meaning that they would be deported back to Bosnia.

Injuries

The Serbian-based NGO Asylum Protection Centre has also gathered extensive evidence of Croatian police brutality.

In late April, Rados Djurovic, the director of the centre, said instances of violence were on the rise.

The NGO has also gathered evidence of migrant families, including children, being starved and exhausted and illegally pushed back into Serbia by Hungarian police.

Police denial

The office of the Croatian ombudsperson said it had acted in more than 50 cases concerning refugees and migrants.

The cases “often involve complaints on various grounds, including police treatment,” the office said in a written reply to BIRN.

Most complaints concerned Croatian and Hungarian police.

“The complaints relate to various types of violence, from hits by hands and sticks to the bite of official dogs,” the office said.

The local health centre in Bihac, in northwestern Bosnia, said it saw up to 10 cases of violent injuries each month, “but injuries are done by various subjects, i.e. the internal conflicts of migrants, third parties and / or police”.

Croatia’s interior ministry said it had looked into all complaints of alleged coercive measures against migrants and that none had warranted further criminal investigation.

“In all these cases, detailed field inspections were carried out in police administrations, and so far in none of the cases have been found that police officers are using forced means against migrants,” it told BIRN.

The ministry stressed its respect for the fundamental rights and dignity of migrants and that it used “prescribed procedure for returning to the country from which they illegally entered into the Republic of Croatia.”

“Migrants are most often falsely accusing police officers of violence, expecting such accusations will help them with a new attempt to enter the Republic of Croatia and continue their journey towards the destination countries,” it said.

In Bosnia, a police spokesman in the Una-Sana canton, where Bihac is located, said police had not received any complaints of violence against migrants and refugees by Bosnian police.

▻https://balkaninsight.com/2019/06/13/nobody-hears-you-migrants-refugees-beaten-on-balkan-borders

Un monde de murs : en Bosnie, la matraque et les poings comme frontière

L’Europe a fait tomber ses murs mais bétonne ses frontières. Depuis 2018, des milliers de personnes tentent de traverser le corridor croate depuis la Bosnie pour atteindre l’espace Schengen. Migrants et ONG dénoncent des refoulements ultra-violents.

Le camp de #Vučjak est situé sur une ancienne décharge. D’après le responsable de la Croix-Rouge, du méthane s’échappe du sol dans certaines zones. Autour des terrains empruntés chaque jour par les migrants sont susceptibles d’abriter des #mines_antipersonnel. - Kristof Vadino.

Ici, on appelle ça le « #game ». Tenter de franchir la frontière entre la Bosnie et la Croatie et atteindre la Slovénie puis l’Italie sans se faire pincer. Le « game », Anwar peut en parler : il a « joué », il a perdu. Ils sont un petit groupe d’adolescents pakistanais et afghans dans le coin d’une grande tente du camp de Vučjak, dans les montagnes du nord de la Bosnie, à manger à même le sol le deuxième (et dernier) repas de la journée. Certains sont majeurs. « La police a tout pris : mes vêtements, mes chaussures… Ils ont tout jeté dans le feu. Et puis, ils ont frappé, fort », raconte le jeune Pakistanais. Parce qu’on demande, il précise : coups de poing, coups de pied, coups de matraque. « Ils nous ont poussés dans la rivière, l’eau était vraiment très froide, mais ils nous ont forcés à rester là deux heures. Ensuite, on a dû monter dans un véhicule et ils ont mis la climatisation à fond. » Ils ont été renvoyés pieds nus dans la forêt.

Si, à vol d’oiseau la frontière n’est qu’à quelques kilomètres du camp, il faut plusieurs heures de marche pour passer la montagne, notoirement habitée par loups, serpents et ours (un psychologue croate de Médecins du Monde raconte avoir suivi une enfant traumatisée après que sa famille a été prise en chasse par un ours). Cette fois-ci, Anwar s’en sort bien, des contusions mais pas de blessures. Celle d’avant, au tibia, a cicatrisé. Une fois, il est parvenu à marcher pendant dix jours en Croatie. Il approchait de la frontière slovène lorsqu’on l’a attrapé. « A chaque fois, ils nous lâchent dans la montagne quand ils nous ramènent. » Les violences ? « Toujours. » Un ami l’a dépanné d’une paire de chaussures et de vêtements, mais il faudra quelque temps avant de réunir à nouveau le matériel nécessaire pour camper dans la « jungle » le long des routes croates. Avant d’avoir une opportunité avec les passeurs aussi. Le tarif : 1.200 euros – payables à l’arrivée – pour rejoindre Trieste à pied depuis la Bosnie. L’option « taxi » est beaucoup plus sûre, mais trois à quatre fois plus chère.

« C’est dur », mais pas question de dévisser de l’objectif. « Inch Allah, je retenterai et je rejoindrai la Belgique », assure Anwar, dans un grand sourire fayot. « Il n’y a pas de vie pour nous au Pakistan. » Autour, les copains qui comprennent un peu l’anglais acquiescent, sérieux.
Une petite équipe pour 700 hommes

L’acharnement, c’est l’impossibilité de faire machine arrière : la dette contractée auprès de sa famille – les terres vendues, les sacrifices pour financer le voyage –, l’obligation de réussite. C’est aussi que, si violentes que puissent être les fins de partie, le « game » vaut le coup. Depuis 2018, un peu plus de 50.000 migrants sont entrés en Bosnie. D’après les chiffres de l’Organisation internationale pour les migrations (OIM), ils seraient actuellement autour de 7.000 sur le territoire ; 700 ont fait le choix de rentrer dans leur pays d’origine. Les autres sont vraisemblablement passés en Europe.

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Comme beaucoup, Anwar a passé quelques nuits devant les portes de Bira, le vaste entrepôt qui parque depuis un an plus de 1.500 hommes, mineurs isolés et familles à quelques kilomètres de là. Il est complet en permanence (1.800 personnes en ce moment). L’espace permettrait de rajouter des containers pour ouvrir 500 places supplémentaires, mais le gouvernement local restreint strictement la capacité. Les conditions sont rudes mais, à côté du camp « cauchemar » de Vučjak, c’est trois étoiles. « J’ai dit à la barrière de Bira que j’avais 17 ans », raconte Anwar. « Mais ils n’ont pas voulu que j’entre. » Il a fini par lâcher l’affaire et revenir au camp.

Dans la tente des garçons, le container de la Croix-Rouge locale conserve les pains qui restent du petit-déjeuner. Les retardataires et retournés frappent régulièrement à la porte pour en récupérer. « It’s oooooopeeeeeen. » Affalé sur la table, le garçon aux traits tirés retire prestement le masque médical en se redressant. Mohamed Cehic gère la toute petite équipe de la Croix-Rouge qui tente tant bien que mal, seule, de répondre aux besoins des 700 hommes du camp. Cinq « volontaires » mobilisés sept jours par semaine. Il est épuisé. « Rien à voir avec le travail, j’ai juste mal dormi », assure le responsable. Avant de prendre les rênes du camp, il avait travaillé un mois dans les centres gérés par l’OIM, où la Croix-Rouge assure la distribution des repas. Et avant cela, il était à l’école. Il a 19 ans.

« On fait tout : on a monté les tentes, on collecte et distribue la nourriture, les vêtements, tout », explique Mohamed Cehic. « Ce n’est pas un camp, je dirais plutôt un… site de transit. La situation n’est pas bonne. Ce n’est pas facile pour les gens. » Il est parfois interrompu par les puissantes rafales de vent qui rabattent pluie et branches contre la paroi du container. Reprend quand cela se calme. « L’hiver approche. C’est la montagne ici, il fait beaucoup plus froid qu’en ville. Ça va vite devenir très difficile. » Est-ce qu’il y a d’autres questions, parce qu’il devrait y aller là, il y a encore… beaucoup.
« Si une solution n’est pas trouvée rapidement, les gens vont mourir »

Dehors, les sollicitations reprennent. Deux hommes reviennent de l’unité mobile que Médecins sans frontières fait désormais venir quatre fois par semaine à un kilomètre de là (il n’y avait avant cela aucun accès à l’aide médicale). Ils ont un papier certifiant leur diagnostic : tuberculose. Il faut organiser leur transport à l’hôpital. Entendant parler de « docteur », d’autres arrivent. Un homme a le poignet blessé. « Police. » Il a improvisé un bandage avec un t-shirt déchiré et de la ficelle. Un autre encore ; une plaie suinte à travers le tissu à sa cheville. « C’est trop tard pour le docteur. Demain. » L’eau dans la tente ? « Je sais, on n’a rien pour réparer. » Médicament ? Vêtements ? Non ; plus tard : désolé, je ne peux rien faire ; demain. « Je ne sais pas si on pourra continuer comme ça », reconnaît Mohamed Cehic. « Les autorités ont dit que le camp fermerait le 15 novembre, mais honnêtement, je ne sais plus à qui faire confiance. » Même la nourriture manque. Dans son dernier rapport, la Croix-Rouge affirme ne pas parvenir à fournir les 2.200 calories minimum nécessaires. Le chef de mission de l’OIM, Peter Van der Auweraert, est, lui, plus catégorique : « Si une solution n’est pas trouvée rapidement, les gens vont mourir. »

Vučjak n’a rien d’un camp spontané. Il résulte de la volonté du gouvernement cantonal d’éloigner les migrants des centres-villes et des habitations. Nouvellement empruntée, la route bosnienne a vu le nombre de migrants soudainement augmenter début 2018, passant de 1.116 personnes en 2017 à 23.848 l’année suivante. Même si un centre d’accueil existe à Sarajevo (saturé, comme les autres), la population se concentre dans le seul canton d’Una Sana, très proche de la Slovénie et de l’Italie. Ce qui a pesé sur la population. En l’espace de dix mois, la police du canton a ouvert 185 dossiers criminels à l’encontre de migrants, incluant un meurtre, trois tentatives de meurtre et des intrusions dans des maisons (« Plutôt en quête d’abris que de vol », nuance le porte-parole de la police). Des migrants étaient victimes dans 26 dossiers. Mais s’agissant de Vučjak, l’OIM et la plupart des autres organisations (y compris l’Union européenne, qui finance tous les centres) ont refusé de jouer le jeu. Le site, une ancienne décharge, n’a pas été testé pour sa toxicité. Sans eau courante, ni électricité, il est entouré de zones toujours susceptibles d’abriter des mines antipersonnel, résidus de guerre.
Violences policières

Seule la Croix-Rouge a répondu à l’appel du gouvernement et jongle depuis avec des bouts de ficelle. Enfin, des colsons pour l’heure, seul moyen de rabibocher les tentes déchirées par les intempéries. Au petit matin, les hommes transis de froid se rassemblent près des feux aux abords des tentes. Voire à l’intérieur. C’est dangereux, mais comme tout. Encore emmitouflé dans une mince couverture, un homme se lance dans une grande supplique à l’Union européenne. « Vous nous repoussez, d’accord, mais s’il vous plaît, arrêtez de nous punir. Arrêtez les violences. »

La violence « supposée » de la police croate, toutes les personnes rencontrées qui sont revenues de la frontière disent en avoir fait l’expérience. Les estropiés qui « se sont fait mal » en tentant de traverser font désormais partie du paysage cantonal. Tant à Vučjak que dans les rues et les centres gérés par l’OIM. Comme Ghulem, 38 ans, croisé à Miral, le centre de Velika Kladusa, dans son fauteuil roulant. Lorsque ses amis l’ont ramené du « game » il y a un mois, incapable de tenir sur ses jambes, les médecins ont fait une radio. Mais on ne lui a jamais communiqué les résultats. Il peut légèrement les bouger maintenant, pas plus. Il a mal, surtout le soir. C’était sa première tentative. Un seul coup de matraque sous les genoux. Il y pense tout le temps. Des migrants racontent que la police tape toujours plus dur sur les Pakistanais – majoritaires en ce moment – sans qu’on sache pourquoi.

Naeem était presque en Italie, lorsque la police slovène l’a intercepté et remis aux forces croates. Retour à la montagne. Le bâton a frappé tellement fort qu’il a creusé des trous dans la chair. Sa jambe a doublé de volume avec l’infection. Un mois plus tard, les plaies suintent encore à travers les pansements. Il a de la chance, il a accès à un docteur.
Histoires de disparitions

Contactée, la Commission européenne assure prendre la situation très au sérieux et attend que la Croatie la « tienne informée ». Fin 2018, Bruxelles débloquait une enveloppe de 6,8 millions d’euros pour permettre à la Croatie de renforcer le contrôle de ses frontières – condition pour une intégration future du pays dans l’espace Schengen – « dans le respect du droit de l’Union européenne ». Outre l’achat de matériel, la création de nouveaux postes-frontières et le renforcement des équipes, l’argent devait financer un « monitoring indépendant », censé essentiellement passer en revue les procédures en place. Quant aux violences policières et au déni d’asile, la Croatie « s’est engagée à enquêter sur toute allégation de mauvais traitement de migrants et réfugiés à la frontière ». Le ministère de l’Intérieur croate n’a pas donné suite à nos requêtes (refusant par ailleurs l’accès à un centre d’accueil de Zagreb).
Quotidien de migrant

Le monitoring se fait surtout du côté des ONG. Une poignée d’organisations actives dans les Balkans alimente continuellement le Border Violence Monitoring de rapports d’entretiens menés avec des migrants, souvent complétés de rapports médicaux corroborant les témoignages. De quoi conforter l’idée d’un usage systématique de la violence incluant torture par le froid, passage à tabac, destructions des biens et vêtements et, dans certains cas, des morsures de chiens, os brisés par des coups de bâton…

L’angle mort pour l’heure, ce sont les disparitions. Dans les camps circulent de nombreuses histoires de noyade lors de la traversée de la Glina, la rivière qui sépare la Bosnie de la Croatie. Mais elles restent quasi impossibles à documenter. Alertées par les migrants, les ONG ont amené (poussé) la police bosnienne à découvrir trois corps – dont un dans la rivière – depuis le mois de septembre, induisant ainsi l’ouverture d’enquêtes. Depuis son lit superposé dans l’immense dortoir de Miral, un garçon essaie de se faire entendre, cherche du regard un Pakistanais capable de traduire. « S’il vous plaît, mes amis, ils sont restés là-bas. » Quatre jours plus tôt, il a laissé quatre compagnons dans les bois, à proximité de la frontière slovène, raconte-t-il. « Ils ont mangé des baies empoisonnées. Ils ne se sont pas réveillés. » Les informations lui manquent, il n’a pas de données GPS. « C’est près d’un village. S’il vous plaît. Il faut les aider. »

Déni d’asile

L.K.

D’après les témoignages de migrants et d’organisations locales, de nombreux cas de refoulements se feraient depuis les commissariats de police croates, seuls endroits où les personnes peuvent déclarer leur intention de demander l’asile. « Il est déjà arrivé que des personnes viennent directement dans nos locaux, qu’on les renvoie vers les commissariats… et qu’elles se retrouvent en Bosnie le lendemain », raconte Tajana Tadic, de l’association citoyenne Are you Sirious. « Ça nous met dans une situation compliquée. C’est délicat de demander aux gens de faire confiance une autorité dont ils ont peur, tout en sachant qu’ils ont de bonnes raisons de se méfier. »

La Croatie, cela dit, accueille des demandeurs d’asile. Des familles surtout. Médecins du Monde y assure le screening médical et les consultations psychologiques. « On constate essentiellement des maladies de peau, des blessures traumatiques et des problèmes respiratoires. Côté psychologique, leur esprit est encore tourné vers la route, l’urgence d’avancer. Ce n’est qu’après quelque temps que les problèmes apparaissent, quand ils sortent du “mode survie” », explique une psychologue. « On voit des symptômes dépressifs, des crises de panique, de l’anxiété, des troubles de stress post-traumatiques… »

▻https://plus.lesoir.be/259302/article/2019-11-08/un-monde-de-murs-en-bosnie-la-matraque-et-les-poings-comme-frontiere
#Vucjak #the_game #Cazin #Bihac #Vedika_Kladusa

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 (▻https://www.amnesty.be/infos/actualites/article/croatie-violences-policieres-torture-infligees-migrantes)

« 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

Des articles plus théoriques sur les villes-refuge :

How Cities Can Shape a Fairer, More Humane Immigration Policy
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/705769#message737077

Avec la « ville-refuge », ce serait un nouveau concept de Ville qui pourrait émerger, un autre droit d’asile, une autre hospitalité qui transformerait le droit international
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/705769#message751607

#Jacques_Derrida und die Idee der Zufluchtsstädte
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/705769#message751608

The Cities Refugees Saved
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/705769#message757468

#Chowra_Makaremi : « Les #villes sont des nœuds sur les trajectoires des migrants »
►https://seenthis.net/messages/674762

More than a welcome : the power of cities
►https://seenthis.net/messages/478438

Numéro spécial sur villes et hospitalité de la revue #Plein_Droit :
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/675436#message759148

Entre accueil et rejet : ce que les villes font aux migrants. Ce que les villes font aux migrants
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/675436#message759152

Mobile Commons, Migrant Digitalities and the Right to the City
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/675436#message759157

Ce qu’ils font est juste : ils mettent la solidarité et l’hospitalité à l’honneur
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/675436#message759158

#Villes-refuge, villes rebelles et néo-municipalisme
►https://seenthis.net/messages/656848

Des dizaines de villes inventent une politique d’accueil des migrants
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/656848#message705607

If mayors ruled migration : Promises and gaps
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/783876

Villes refuges | Exclusions d’État versus inclusions urbaines
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/798557

Data shows sanctuary cities keep communities safer
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/824538
#crimes #criminalité

webinar : Solidarity Cities of Europe - How can we work together on progressive migration policy ?

https://i.imgur.com/xBpvBB4.png

Au Proche-Orient, #Beirut (#Liban) :
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/675436#message759154

Alors qu’au même temps le ministre des affaires extérieures libanais veut s’inspirer du #modèle_hongrois (sic) :
►https://seenthis.net/messages/770467

#Censure d’un #film qui devait sortir sur le système #SPRAR en Italie :
►https://seenthis.net/messages/766813

Des #initiatives_citoyennes :

#sursaut_citoyen, en #France :
►https://seenthis.net/messages/771840

#A4 : #Association_d’accueil_en_agriculture_et_en_artisanat_ville-campagne
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/983462
#agriculture #artisanat #campagne #rural

#églises-refuge

“Mettiamo a disposizione le nostre strutture e quelle delle chiese sorelle d’Europa per accogliere i migranti della Sea Watch”. Il pastore Luca Negro, presidente della Federazione delle chiese evangeliche Italia ha teso la mano e offerto una soluzione per sbloccare l’empasse sulla nave che da giorni stanzia a un passo dalle acque territoriali italiane, una quarantina di migranti a bordo.

►https://seenthis.net/messages/782050

La Chiesa italiana accoglie 58 profughi della Ocean Viking (a sue spese)
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/803712

#Eglise #églises

#Geneva_Declaration_on_Human_Rights_at_Sea :
►https://seenthis.net/messages/773238

#Genève l’a signée : ►https://seenthis.net/messages/782876

#Déclaration_de_Genève_sur_les_droits_de_l’Homme_en_mer

Dossier « Migrants : comment les territoires ont pris le relais de l’Etat » de la Gazette des communes :
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/782971

Villes-refuge pour #artistes
#International_Cities_of_Refuge_Network (#ICORN) :
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/798031
#écrivains #art

Des revendications de citoyen·nes de différentes villes autour de la notion de « #citoyenneté_locale », « #citoyenneté_urbaine »... dans l’idée de se dire que : devrait être considéré citoyen celui et celle qui résident dans une ville, égal son statut légal.

Quelques exemples ci-dessous.

"Wir alle sind #Bern"
►https://seenthis.net/messages/801885
#Suisse

Züri_city_card
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/801885#message801887
Ville de Zurich : Soins médicaux pour personnes sans assurance maladie
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/981751
#Zurich

#Genève : Vers une #carte_d’identification_universelle en Ville ?
►https://seenthis.net/messages/904221

#La_Chaux-de-Fonds :
Une carte d’identité communale
►https://seenthis.net/messages/896514

En lien avec la #crise_sanitaire (#coronavirus, #covid-19)

►https://seenthis.net/messages/847078
–-> #régularisation

Un contre-exemple, l’association #ma_commune_sans_migrants :
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/864697

#USA #Etats-Unis

Sanctuary Cities: All You Need In An Infographic

https://seenthis.net/local/cache-vignettes/L340xH700/uz31PY4png-11a4b-e31a4.png

Map: Sanctuary Cities, Counties, and States

https://seenthis.net/local/cache-vignettes/L600xH590/2ZkxgBepng-ffe73-33c5f.png

#Atlanta:
https://seenthis.net/messages/705769#message724208

#New-York_City #NYC:
https://seenthis.net/messages/705769#message751011
New Sanctuary Coalition of #NYC:
https://seenthis.net/messages/705769#message756227

Chicago announces $5M fund for people excluded from federal coronavirus relief act
https://seenthis.net/messages/860103
#Chicago #coronavirus #covid-19

#Petaluma City Council unanimously adopts ‘It Won’t Happen Here’ resolution
https://seenthis.net/messages/874258

#universités-refuge :
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/731110

–---

Des amphis occupés en #France pour y abriter des migrants (et des projets avec elleux) :
►https://seenthis.net/messages/718619
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/653193
#occupation
#Patio_solidaire à #Grenoble, mais aussi #Lyon, #Paris_8

–---

#Italie
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/877069

–—

#Every_Campus_A_Refuge, en lien avec les programmes de #réinstallation aux #USA #Etats-Unis
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/746116

–—

Universities of sanctuary
▻https://universities.cityofsanctuary.org

–—

#University_corridors and the role of academia in opening safe and legal pathways for refugees to Europe
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/863585

–---

Article scientifique
Enabling Pathways for Students from Refugee and Asylum-Seeker Backgrounds in Higher Education : Aspirations About Progression to Postgraduate Studies
▻https://academic.oup.com/rsq/article-abstract/39/2/244/5864824?redirectedFrom=fulltext

–—

Education : la Grèce octroie l’asile à un étudiant Guinéen admis à Sciences Po Paris
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/868331

–—

#Sorbonne nouvelle annonce son diplôme #DU_Passerelle
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/873618

–—

#université_de_Genève #Scholars_at_risk, un réseau d’institutions universitaires qui défend la #liberté_académique
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/1046966
#UNIGE

#université

En #Europe :
►https://seenthis.net/messages/878327

#Espagne #Italie #Pologne #Bosnie #France #Belgique #UK #Angleterre #Allemagne #Serbie #Suisse #Pays-Bas

#Ports-refuge
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/878648

33 European cities sign ’alliance of safe harbours’ declaration
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/921792

Associations et appels :

#ANVITA, #association_nationale_des_villes_et_territoires_accueillants :
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/705769#message726383
►https://seenthis.net/messages/759638

City Initiative on Migrants with Irregular Status in Europe (#C-MISE) :
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/727455#message727456

#ICORN :
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/705769#message751609
#International_Cities_of_Refuge_Network

#Eine_Stadt_für_Alle
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/705769#message756231

#Guide de l’hospitalité du collectif #Le_Perou :
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/675436#message714073

#Convention_sur_l'accueil de #Grande-Synthe
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/675436#message759150
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/675436#message759151

Projet #APROP de Barcelone :
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/675436#message759153

En lien avec le mouvement #Right_to_the_city :
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/675436#message759155

L’alleanza dei sindaci del Mediterraneo
►https://seenthis.net/messages/759141

#Cities_of_Migration
▻http://citiesofmigration.ca

“#From_the_Sea_to_the_Cities !”
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/788948
#From_Sea_to_Cities
–-> et la version française : "l’appel de 28 collectivités pour ’l’inconditionnalité du sauvetage en mer’" :
►https://seenthis.net/messages/897821

#Appel_de_Vézelay pour l’#accueil des migrants
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/798026

#Mayors_Migration_Council (#MMC)
▻https://www.mayorsmigrationcouncil.org

Marrakech mayors declaration : Cities working together for migrants and refugees
▻https://www.mayorsmigrationcouncil.org/pdf/marrakech_mayors_declaration-2019_02_19.pdf

#CitiesMustAct (qui fait partie de la #campagne #EuropeMustAct)
►https://seenthis.net/messages/847078
#relocalisation #Grèce

#From_Sea_to_city
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/862343

Libérez l’« Ocean Viking » et les autres navires humanitaires
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/875603

#Mediterranean_City-to-City_Migration_Project
#City-to-City (#MC2CM)
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/885661
#Méditerranée

Processo Open Arms, la città di Barcellona si costituisce parte civile contro Salvini
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/898791

#justice #procès #Barcelone

Humanitarian support - cities of #Rijeka & #Zagreb
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/981315
#Croatie #route_des_Balkans #Balkans

#Legacy_of_war

A five-year photographic project exploring the long-term effects of conflict globally. Stories and images by Giles Duley.

http://legacyofwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/IMG_3302-1280x1280.jpg http://legacyofwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/GD990469-R1-01-2-1.jpg http://legacyofwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/993265_21-1-1280x1854.jpg http://legacyofwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Giles_Lebanon_Neg3179_5.jpg

▻http://legacyofwar.com

Et des photos de #Lesbos, #Grèce.
Photos de 2016.
This is Europe, This is Now : Lesvos to Berlin, 2015 – Part 1

http://legacyofwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Lesvos-to-Berlin-2.jpg http://legacyofwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Lesvos-to-Berlin-6.jpg http://legacyofwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Lesvos-to-Berlin-7.jpg http://legacyofwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Lesvos-to-Berlin-10.jpg http://legacyofwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Lesvos-to-Berlin-16.jpg

▻http://legacyofwar.com/2433-2

Et la deuxième partie :

http://legacyofwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Lesvos-to-Berlin-37-1280x950.jpg http://legacyofwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Lesvos-to-Berlin-32.jpg http://legacyofwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Lesvos-to-Berlin-33.jpg http://legacyofwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Lesvos-to-Berlin-35.jpg http://legacyofwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Lesvos-to-Berlin-36.jpg http://legacyofwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Lesvos-to-Berlin-39.jpg

Une #carte sur le #parcours_migratoire, probablement dessinée par des volontaires :

http://legacyofwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Lesvos-to-Berlin-40.jpg

Et la barrière frontalière de l’#Evros :

http://legacyofwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Lesvos-to-Berlin-49.jpg

Et #Fylakio :

http://legacyofwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Lesvos-to-Berlin-50.jpg

#réfugiés #asile #migrations #Berlin #Allemagne

The power of a story
▻https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=34&v=5qdZybH-LnI

Izbjeglice umiru na balkanskoj ruti

Balkanska ruta se od 2016. godine smatra zatvorenom. Ali izbjeglice i dalje umiru pokušavajući da pređu granice - kao što je slučaj sa Ihsanudinom Gull Muhammadom.

https://www.dw.com/image/47882939_303.jpg

hsanudin Gull Muhammad stradao je u maju 2018. Njegovo tijelo su našli u rijeci Korani. Ta rijeka predstavlja granicu između Bosne i Hercegovine i članice EU - Hrvatske. Rasim Ruždić živi u blizini Korane. On ima terensko vozilo sa prikolicom, tako da ga policija uvijek pita za pomoć kada treba da se transportuje nešto sa teško pristupačnog terena. Tako je bilo i ovaj put. “Okrenuo sam auto i stavio beživotno tijelo u prikolicu. Držao sam ga za ruke. Koža mu se već počela guliti, što znači da je već nekoliko dana bio u vodi”, kaže Rasim.

Ihsanudin Gull Mohammad imao je na sebi sivu majicu, traperice, tene, jednu bosansku marku i 30 centi gotovine, gumu za kosu i perle za molitvu safirne boje. Kada je Rasim Ruždić položio njegovo tijelo u prikolicu, vidio je da je u Ihsanudinovoj lijevoj šaci ostao tespih - čvrsto stegnut.

Udavio se u bijegu od hrvatske granične policije?

Okolnosti pod kojima je Ihsanudin umro nemoguće je razjasniti. Zna se da je bio u grupi i da je pokušao da pređe bosansko-hrvatsku granicu. Ruždić pretpostavlja da je grupu zaustavila hrvatska granična policija:

“Onda su pobjegli natrag u Bosnu, ali jadni mladić se najvjerovatnije izgubio i nije znao kako da se vrati. Ušao je u duboku vodu, vjerojatno nije znao plivati i utopio se.”

Bosna i Hercegovina godinama nije bila na takozvanoj „Balkanskoj ruti". Putevi ka zapadnoj Evropi vodili su kroz druge, susjedne zemlje. Tokom 2017. godine u BiH je došlo manje od 800 ljudi, dok je 2018. godine registrovano čak 25.000 takozvanih ilegalnih migranata. Ljudi se pokušavaju domoći neke od članica EU. Neki uspijevaju, druge hvata i vraća hrvatska granična policija.

Migranti i izbjeglice uvijek iznova izvještavaju da im hrvatska policija ne daje šansu da podnesu zahtjev za azil, da ih ilegalno šalje nazad preko “zelene granice” i da koristi silu. Hrvatska konsekventno odbacuje ove navode. Rasim Ruždić ne vjeruje hrvatskim vlastima i ima o tome jasno mišljenje:

“Ako želite da spriječite ljude da pređu granicu, trebali biste da ih zaustavite, ali ne morate ih ubiti.”

Ihsanudin Gull Mohammad sahranjen je na muslimanskom groblju u Bihaću, na sjeverozapadu Bosne. Prije toga je njegovo tijelo držano mjesec dana u mrtvačnici. Bosanske vlasti nisu bile sigurne šta da rade sa lešom. Na kraju je sahranu organizovala Zemira Godinjac, koja se dobrovoljno brine o izbjeglicama u Bihaću. “Svako ljudsko biće zaslužuje minimum dostojanstva na kraju ovozemaljskog života, i ja sam, kao čovjek, u to duboko uvjerena”, kaže ova Bosanka.

Zemira Godinjac je najprije pokušala dobiti informacije o nastradalom mladiću. Od jednog Ihsanudinovog pratioca saznaje da je mladić bio oženjen i da je imao dvoje djece. Nakon toga pokreće akciju da njegovo tijelo bude prebačeno u rodni Afganistan.

Zemira Godinjac traži Ihsanudinove članove porodice

To je teško, jer nema kontakta sa njegovom porodicom i jer joj nedostaju informacije o njegovom mjestu porijekla. Ali Zemira Godinjac ne odustaje i nada se da će neko već početi da traži Ihsanudina. Dodaje i da je imao jednu osobenost: šest prstiju na lijevoj ruci. Zato će, kaže, na sigurno pohraniti Ihsanudinov plavi tespih I njegovu gumu za kosu. “Sigurno je želio više od ovoga ostaviti svojoj porodici, ali tako vam je to. Njegova sudbina je bila da pronađe smiraj u Bosni. Ovo je njegov tespih a sa ovim je vjerovatno vezao kosu. Ostaviću te stvari kod sebe da ih jednoga dana mogu dati njegovoj porodici.”

▻https://www.dw.com/bs/izbjeglice-umiru-na-balkanskoj-ruti/a-48052681

Die Story im Ersten: Tote auf der Balkanroute

2015 überrollt ein Zug in Mazedonien 14 Flüchtlinge. In Europa ist dieses Unglück nicht einmal eine Randnotiz. Recherchen vor Ort zeigen: Die Ermittlungen wurden schnell eingestellt, nicht alle Augenzeugen befragt. Wie der 19-jährige Afghane Mahdi Mohebi aus Bremen. Er hat das Unglück überlebt. Von seinem Bruder jedoch fehlt jede Spur: Hat der Zug seinen 14-jährigen Bruder verletzt, getötet? Wenn ja, was ist mit seinen sterblichen Überresten geschehen?

Statt aufzuklären und zu helfen, schob die mazedonische Polizei Mahdi Mahebi sofort zurück nach Griechenland: ein klarer Verstoß gegen die Europäische Menschenrechtskonvention, wie die Kritiker sagen. Informationen und Hinweise zur Identifizierung der unbekannten Toten werden von den mazedonischen Behörden bis heute zurückgehalten. Kein Einzelfall, doch kaum jemand traut sich, die Verantwortlichen anzuklagen.
Entlang der Balkanroute sind Tote Alltag

Anders die Eltern des sechsjährigen Mädchens Madina Hussiny. Sie starb an der kroatisch-serbischen Grenze in Folge eines „Pushbacks“, einer polizeilichen Sofort-Abschiebung. Ihre Eltern klagen an, ihre Tochter hätte nicht sterben müssen, wenn es Rechtsstaatlichkeit an der kroatischen EU-Außengrenze gegeben hätte. Die Eltern erleben dann einen weiteren Schock. Denn statt den Fall aufzuklären, versucht die Regierung in Zagreb, genau das Gegenteil zu erreichen.

Fast überall entlang der Balkanroute sind Tote Alltag: Menschen, die erfrieren, die vor Erschöpfung zusammenbrechen, die Opfer von Gewaltverbrechen werden. Genaue Zahlen gibt es nicht, nirgendwo in Europa eine Stelle, die Zahlen fortlaufend zusammenträgt und jeden Fall prüft.
Behörden und Politik fühlen sich nicht zuständig

In Deutschland leben mehrere Flüchtlingsfamilien, die ihre Angehörigen vermissen und annehmen müssen, dass sie auf der Balkanroute ums Leben gekommen sind. Es sind Familien, die 2015 über diesen beschwerlichen Weg nach Deutschland gekommen sind. Nach ihrer Ankunft wenden sie sich an die deutsche Polizei, berichten dem BAMF, dass es von ihren Verwandten auf der Balkanroute kein Lebenszeichen mehr gibt. Hilfe jedoch bekommen sie nicht.

Weder Behörden noch Politik in Deutschland fühlen sich zuständig. Der Suchdienst des Deutschen Roten Kreuzes ist zwar bereit zu helfen, ist jedoch auf eine Kooperation der Behörden im In- und Ausland angewiesen. Die aber gibt es nur selten. Ist die Notlage von in Deutschland lebenden Flüchtlingsfamilien also einfach egal?
Leidvolles Bangen um das Schicksal von Angehörigen

Der Film belegt: Es wird so gut wie gar nicht hingeschaut, wenn Flüchtlinge in Deutschland sich seit Jahren mit der Ungewissheit um den Verbleib ihrer Familienmitglieder quälen. Einige halten das leidvolle Warten nicht mehr aus: Sie wollen zurück auf die Balkanroute, um ihre Kinder und Geschwister zu finden.

„Die Story im Ersten“ hat sie auf ihrer Spurensuche begleitet und die Behörden vor Ort konfrontiert. Werden die Angehörigen Antworten auf ihre drängendste Frage finden: Was geschah mit ihren Familienmitgliedern?

Der Film zeigt auf, welchen Stellenwert Rechtsstaatlichkeit und Menschenwürde einnehmen, wenn es um den Umgang mit toten Geflüchteten und ihren Angehörigen geht.

https://www.daserste.de/information/reportage-dokumentation/dokus/sendung/der-film-von-darko-jakovljevic-zeigt-auf-welchen-stellenwert-rechtsstaatlichkeit-und-mensche-100~_v-standard644_c5457f.jpg

En février 2019...
Violence et désespoir s’emparent des migrants oubliés en Bosnie-Herzégovine

Vendredi soir, de très violents affrontements ont éclaté dans le camp de réfugiés de #Bira, à #Bihać, au nord-ouest de la Bosnie-Herzégovine. Entre les squats de Sarajevo et les camps surpeuplés, des milliers de réfugiés sont toujours bloqués dans ce pays. Sans grand espoir de pouvoir passer dans l’Union européenne.

https://static.mediapart.fr/etmagine/default/files/2019/02/02/capture-d-e-cran-2019-02-02-a-16-27-00.png?width=983&height=513&width_format=pixel&height_format=pixel#.jpg

▻https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/international/040219/violence-et-desespoir-s-emparent-des-migrants-oublies-en-bosnie-herzegovin

#Bihać : Dove i corpi non si sfiorano

Pubblichiamo il primo di due articoli dal confine tra Bosnia e Croazia, dove memorie di guerre e migrazioni del passato e del presente si incrociano. Il secondo articolo sarà di Gabriele Proglio, compagno di viaggio di Benedetta.

Sono le 8 di mattina, e dopo una lunga giornata di viaggio e poche ore di sonno, Bihać ci sorprende nel tepore di una giornata inaspettatamente calda e soleggiata. La città bosniaca si circonda di montagne e colline, che ne tracciano fiere ed imponenti il confine che la separa dalla Croazia. Negli anni 90, queste cime sono state luogo di un assedio da parte dell’esercito serbo, fungendo da vera e propria prigione naturale. Oggi, invece, rappresentano, per migliaia di migranti in fuga da guerre, persecuzioni e povertà, l’unica speranza di giungere in Unione Europea.

Il fascino delle terre di confine sta proprio nel loro essere allo stesso tempo luoghi di limite e superamento, di prigionia e di libertà, di antagonismo e di incontro. Inevitabilmente, questa eterna contraddizione li rende condanna e benedizione per i popoli che li abitano, e per quelli che vi passano.

Io e Gabriele siamo arrivati fin qui con lo scopo di esplorare la sovrapposizione storica delle memorie di un popolo che ha visto la guerra, e che ora si ritrova ad essere luogo di passaggio di persone che dalla guerra stanno ancora scappando. Lo stimolo intellettuale di smascherare il confine, una conoscenza superficiale della storia del paese, ed un interesse accademico per la questione della crisi migratoria, sono i bagagli che ho con me. Sono ancora ignara dei fantasmi di questo posto, e degli scheletri che si porta dentro. In poco tempo il confine mi entrerà nella pelle, lo sentirò scorrere e spostarsi alterando le sicurezze che mi ero costruita attraverso lo studio minuzioso ma distaccato di questa realtà. Ma per ora, Bihać deve ancora svegliarsi e con lei, mi sveglierò anche io.

Ad un primo sguardo, la città mi appare come un non luogo, dove l’apatia generale ha lentamente rimosso le ferite di una guerra fin troppo recente. Ma i resti sono evidenti. Monumenti ai caduti, cimiteri e colpi di mortaio che appaiono come cicatrici sui palazzi della città. Nella sua calma opprimente, Bihać ricorda molto la Seahaven di Truman Show. Una cittadina tranquilla dove non succede niente. Un posto come un altro dove mettere su famiglia e vivere una vita semplice. Come Seahaven, questa mattina Bihać si apre ai miei occhi come un palcoscenico pronto a mettere in scena uno spettacolo dell’inganno, che va avanti giorno dopo giorno da decenni, nel tentativo di legittimare la finzione di una serenità tanto desiderata quanto superficiale.

Le strade sono pulite e silenziose e le comparse del grande spettacolo dell’inganno devono ancora apparire. Tutto è fermo. Tra poco si sparpaglieranno nei caffè del centro impersonando perfettamente il loro ruolo di cittadini annoiati e disillusi. Lo sguardo stanco dei cani randagi che si assopiscono all’ombra di alberi spogli, l’immagine stereotipata di ragazzi e anziani seduti ad un bar per riempire la giornata. Eccola Bihać nella sua stasi permanente e volontaria, nella sua apparente tranquillità che da due decenni tenta invano di smacchiarle l’anima dalle cicatrici di una guerra di cui non si parla e non si vuole parlare.

http://www.lavoroculturale.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/bihac-migrants-704x400.jpg

È mezzogiorno. Improvvisamente noto che l’equilibrio che si è tanto faticato a costruire durante la mattinata si rompe. Appaiono degli estranei che spezzano l’atmosfera. Sono nuove comparse, che stonano con la scenografia e non conoscono il copione. La maggior parte sono uomini sui trenta, alcuni portano con loro zaini e sacchi a pelo. Sono le persone migranti giunte dopo mesi di viaggio per la rotta balcanica, arrivate fin qui per oltrepassare il confine e raggiungere la Croazia, l’Unione Europea. Alcuni vivono nei campi di Borici, Bira e Cedra. Ma da qualche settimana i campi sono pieni, e chi non può permettersi di pagare altissime somme di denaro per un affitto in città in nero, dorme per strada.

Da circa un anno, a Bihać non si parla d’altro. Dall’estate scorsa, quando i flussi migratori si sono intensificati, i cittadini si sono trovati a dover gestire una situazione d’emergenza umanitaria, dove le uniche presenze di supporto sono la Croce Rossa, lo #IOM e poche ONG internazionali, come #IPSIA. Intanto gli abitanti della città cominciano ad innervosirsi.

http://www.lavoroculturale.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/DSC_7357-768x512.jpg

Ci hanno abbandonato’ mi dice Amir, riferendosi al governo centrale di Sarajevo, ‘non gli è mai importato di noi, nemmeno durante la guerra’. Amir vive a Bihać da tutta la vita, e come ogni bosniaco della sua generazione, ha visto la guerra e se la porta dentro e addosso, nella sua gestualità al limite del compulsivo e nell’azzurro glaciale del suo sguardo, che non si azzarda mai ad incrociare il mio, ma si focalizza sempre su zone limitrofe. ‘Non odio, ma sono arrabbiato’ mi confessa Amir mentre avvicina ripetutamente alle labbra la tazzina ormai vuota di caffè, come per rimarcare con quella pausa la scelta coraggiosa ed insolita di abbandonarsi al ricordo della guerra. Amir non se lo permette mai. ‘Non parliamo della guerra, non sono bei ricordi. Cerco di non stare solo. Quando sono solo, suono il piano. Questo è un altro modo per scappare. Lo faccio solo per me’. Amir ha combattuto sul fronte a Bihac e ‘probabilmente’, come tiene a sottolineare, ha ucciso qualcuno.

Ma non lo vuole sapere, non ci vuole pensare. Un’altra pausa, un sospiro e di nuovo un finto sorso ad una tazzina ormai vuota da venti minuti. Mi trovo di fronte a questo signore di cinquant’anni a cui la guerra ne ha aggiunti almeno quindici in volto. Lo ascolto ed improvvisamente mi ritrovo a comprenderne la violenza, subita ed esercitata. D’un tratto, il confine tra bene e male che ho tracciato nella mia coscienza va a sgretolarsi nel dramma di un popolo che non comprende la ragione del proprio trauma, ma ne subisce ogni conseguenza.

Nella costante rimozione di un passato scomodo e violento, la materializzazione della crisi migratoria risveglia la rabbia ed il senso di abbandono dei cittadini di Bihać. ‘Noi siamo un popolo aperto e tollerante, sappiamo cosa vuol dire dover scappare dalle proprie case. Ma io non so chi sono queste persone, e non mi sento al sicuro. Ho paura per mia figlia’ mi confessa Harun. ‘Queste persone non vogliono rimanere qui. Fosse per me, le condurrei io al confine. Questa situazione non va bene nemmeno per loro e sono le istituzioni che dovrebbero darci supporto.’

‘Il pisciatoio d’Europa’, cosi lo definisce Alessandra, italiana migrata a Bihać negli anni 90. Anche lei arrivata al limite della sopportazione nei confronti del fenomeno che ha sconvolto la realtà quotidiana di questa città. Dalle prime interviste agli abitanti di Bihać, mi appare chiara una cosa. Nessuno si azzarda a dire che il migrante è un problema in quanto tale. Tutti parlano di sicurezza, di identità. Il problema non è che so chi sei e per questo ti odio, il problema è che non so chi sei, e per questo ho paura. Ancora una volta, ‘non odio, ma sono arrabbiato’.

Incontro gli abitanti di Bihać nei patii dell’Hotel Opal e Paviljon che si affacciano sulle due rive opposte del fiume Una. In mezzo, l’isolotto di verde che spezza il ceruleo del corso d’acqua si copre di ragazzi con zaini e sacchi a peli. Alcuni sono soli, altri in gruppo. Tutti hanno solo un obiettivo al momento: arrivare al confine. Invadono il paesaggio ma non le coscienze. Sono osservati costantemente, ma non vengono mai guardati. Tra di loro c’è Abdul, arrivato dall’Iraq dopo 9 mesi di viaggio attraverso la Turchia, la Grecia l’Albania e la Serbia. Domani tenterà di nuovo il game, nonostante non cammini ancora bene, dopo gli ultimi pestaggi della polizia croata. Il game, così lo chiamano, è il tentativo di valicare il confine, cercando di sfuggire alle violente deportazioni della polizia croata. Cosi nel grande spettacolo dell’inganno, la trama si infittisce di adrenalina e suspense. Migranti e forze dell’ordine croate si rincorrono e si combattono in un moderno guardia e ladri che avviene lassù, sulle montagne che separano il confine bosniaco da quello croato, lontano dagli occhi del mondo. Abdul mi dice che questo è il suo ottavo tentativo, ma che ha deciso che in caso venga respinto ancora, si sposterà a Velika Kladuša, altra città di confine, a pochi chilometri da Bihać. Abdul non mi parla di casa, non mi parla del futuro. Nei suoi occhi vedo solo il game. Eppure Abdul ha visto morire suo padre, ed è scappato lasciando una madre ed una sorella. Come Amir, ha la guerra negli occhi. Come Amir, non odia ma è arrabbiato. È arrabbiato con lo IOM che non lo ha fatto entrare nel campo di Bira. E’ arrabbiato con l’uomo della polizia croata che lo ha picchiato e gli ha rubato il cellulare. Ma Amir non odia, non ne vede il motivo. Vuole solo oltrepassare il confine, vuole solo una possibilità.

http://www.lavoroculturale.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/campo.jpeg

In questa danza imbarazzata e goffa tra due storie di vite spezzate, presenti e passati di guerre e miseria, i corpi non si sfiorano. Accarezzano il lento scorrere del tempo tra la pesante presenza dei monumenti di guerra e lo sforzo collettivo di ignorali. Proprio come quei monumenti, i migranti sono altamente visibili, e sistematicamente ignorati. Proprio come quei monumenti, i cittadini portano addosso i marchi indelebili di una memoria sanguinolenta, che scorre attraverso le loro menti e le loro fisicità, ma viene anch’essa rimossa dalla coscienza.A Bihac oggi, coesistono due tragedie: quella di un passato macchiato di sangue e quella di un futuro incerto ed opprimente. Due linee parallele che non si toccano mai nella temporalità e nella geografia complesse di questo eterno enigma che è la Bosnia. Eppure, in qualche modo, queste due linee hanno entrambe attraversato i confini della mia soggettività, prima scontrandosi violentemente in uno scarabocchio emotivo che non riesce a dare senso a quello che prova e poi ridefinendo il perimetro curvo e fluido della mia certezza. Il confine si è spostato. Non ci sono più buoni o cattivi.

A Bihać, per quanto lo si tenti di negare, si è tutti parte della stessa rabbia. E come in una tragedia greca, io, da spettatrice di questo spettacolo dell’inganno, ho vissuto la catarsi nel riscoprire che queste comparse stonate, nel loro essere fuori luogo, ignorate e non volute, sono in realtà parte integrante della trama. Lo sbaglio sta nel cercare il torto dove non c’è ragione, e nel cercare la ragione dove non c’è il torto. Quando si smette di farlo, Bihać non fa altro che rivelare le pieghe drammatiche della tragedia dell’essere umano nella sua costante ed insensata ricerca di un nemico a cui dare la colpa della propria sofferenza.

▻http://www.lavoroculturale.org/bihac-dove-i-corpi-non-si-sfiorano
#Croix-Rouge #OIM #frontières #Bosnie #Croatie #Balkans #route_des_Balkans

The City Council of Bihać unanimously made a decision (▻https://www.nezavisne.com/novosti/gradovi/Vucijak-nova-lokacija-za-izmjestanje-migranata/537203) to open a new accommodation facility for refugees - in #Vučijak, a suburb near #Plješevica, near the border with Croatia. There they found an object that meets the necessary conditions for refugee accommodation, and authorities have announced that this move will move refugees from the temporary center of Bira or the center of Bihać to the EU border. Although the new facility could provide better reception conditions for refugees in Bosnia, this move is an indication of how countries in the region share an ignorant integration policy.

Reçu via la mailing-list Inicijativa dobrodosli, le 15.05.2019

New migrant reception center to be built in Bosnia

Bosnian authorities have announced that a new migrant reception center will be built near Bihac. This center will replace two temporary reception centers.

In Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Operating Unit for Migrants has decided to build a migrant and refugee center near Bihac, in the country’s northwest. The center will be built in Vucjak, eight kilometers from the Bihac city center, according to media sources.

The new structure will take the place of two temporary reception centers: #Bira in Bihac and #Miral in #Velika_Kladusa, both near the Croatia border. In 2018, 25,000 migrants entered Bosnia illegally from Serbia and Montenegro. Since the start of this year, police have registered 8,930 arrivals.

Bosnia is a transit country for many migrants who are trying to make it to Western Europe from Turkey or Greece. Bosnia is not a member of the European Union. But its neighbor Croatia is.

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Volunteers banned from providing aid

Meanwhile, Bosnian authorities have banned the international aid group “#Aid_Brigade” from providing food to migrants and refugees at the main train station in Bosnia’s capital Sarajevo, according to the website Klix.ba.

The volunteers reportedly also had to close the place where they were providing medical assistance to migrants. Since March 2018, Aid Brigade volunteers have prepared and distributed 120,000 meals to migrants and 600 jackets and sleeping bags.

The volunteers are accused of violating public order and aiding migrants and refugees in violation of the law, as well as volunteering with a tourist visa.

▻https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/17270/new-migrant-reception-center-to-be-built-in-bosnia
#accueil

Bosnie-Herzégovine : à Bihać, on transfère les réfugiés sur une ancienne #décharge

16 juin -14h30 : Depuis samedi matin, quelque 500 migrants ont été déplacés de Bihać vers une ancienne décharge située sur localité de #Vučjak, tout près de la frontière croate. Les migrants s’opposent à ce transfert et en appellent à la communauté internationale. Des heurts ont éclaté lors des premières opérations de transfert, et quatre policiers ont été blessés selon les sources officielles.

Des habitants de Bihać annoncent une grande manifestation ce dimanche pour dénoncer la dégradation de la situation en ville, due, selon eux, à la présence des migrants. Ils accusent les autorités locales, cantonales, fédérales et centrales de ne prendre aucune mesure.

►https://www.courrierdesbalkans.fr/fil-info-refugies

#Vucjak

A particularly worrying situation in the northwest of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the Una-Sana Canton, is escalating. After the fire in the Miral camp and numerous conflicts between the refugees and the police, the situation seems to be unsustainable. Poor hygienic and living conditions led the refugees to despair. After the escalation of various forms of violence, local authorities decided to move all refugees outside the camps to an isolated area in Vučjak, at the same place where a waste landfill was once housed. The authorities de facto closed the camps, refusing refugees to enter or leave the building. Ironically, the UN and IOM, who have run camps in BiH, oppose this solution (▻http://ba.one.un.org/content/unct/bosnia_and_herzegovina/en/home/presscenter/un-country-team-in-bih--joint-statement-on-relocation-of-migrant.html. By using force, more than 600 people were transferred to that area, including searches and incursions into several private homes where nearly 300 people were accommodated. "Local police and local Red Cross teams are only present because international organizations do not support the idea and accommodation in Vučjak in the current circumstances. The Red Cross is allegedly only allowed to provide first aid, so there is no medical care for the people who are staying there. Also, food that is distributed is very basic and is not enough to feed people, "AYS reported.

Reçu via la mailing-list Inicijativa dobrodosli, le 24.06.2019

The jungle camp #Vučjak in BIH exists in the last two weeks. There is no presence of medical staff in the camp which makes unacceptable hygienic and sanitary conditions even worse - especially due to reported skin infections among the people who are there. The only organization currently active in the camp is the Red Cross that provides food. The EU responded with additional approval of 14.8 million Euros (►http://europa.ba/?p=64423 - of which 13 million are intended to support border management (June 21, signed by IOM), and 1.8 million for humanitarian aid. Thus, the EU has so far financially supported BiH with 24 million euros around the refugee situation. It is extremely worrying that the EU allocates 90% of its intended funds to migration management and a very small part to humanitarian support for people living in very poor conditions. This is a direct indication that the Commission is more concerned with border conservation than human life.

Reçu via la mailing-list Inicijativa dobrodosli, le 03.07.2019

EU provides €14.8 million to assist refugees and migrants in BiH

The European Union announced today €14.8 million to address the needs of migrants and refugees who remain present in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This includes €13 million of support to migration management – for which an implementation agreement was signed on 21 June with the International Organisation for Migration – and €1.8 million for humanitarian aid.

This brings EU overall assistance to Bosnia and Herzegovina to cope with the increased migratory flow since 2018 to €24 million (€20.2 million from the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance and €3.8 million of humanitarian aid). This is in addition to €24.6 million assistance the European Union has provided to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the area of asylum, migration and border management since 2007.

Johannes Hahn, EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, said: ‘As stated in the recent Commission Opinion, Bosnia and Herzegovina authorities need to ensure effective coordination, at all levels, of border management and migration management capacity, as well as the functioning of the asylum system. This is necessary for the country to take full advantage of the EU substantial assistance – in the interest of refugees and migrants and of the local communities.’

Christos Stylianides, EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, said: ‘The EU is committed to help those most in need and cover the basic needs of refugees and migrants in Bosnia and Herzegovina, complementing national efforts. It is important that the well-being of the refugees and migrants is at the heart of decisions for the location and quality of accommodation centres.’

Building on the results of the previous assistance, this funding will ensure accommodation for around 5,000 refugees, asylum seekers and migrants. It will provide access to health and protection assistance and outreach to people living outside of the reception facilities. Also, some items such as jackets, shoes and sleeping bags will be made available for people in need. The unhindered access of humanitarian partners to those in need is crucial in addressing these humanitarian needs.

The EU funding will also strengthen the capacity of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s authorities in border management, as well as for identification, registration and referral to services for refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants. It will also support assisted voluntary returns.

Background

Since the beginning of the refugee crisis in Western Balkans the European Union has allocated more than €25 million in humanitarian aid to assist refugees and migrants in Serbia, and over €4 million to North Macedonia. EU humanitarian aid helps the most vulnerable refugees and migrants to meet basic needs and preserve their dignity. In addition to humanitarian assistance, the European Union has provided Western Balkans partners with significant financial support amounting to €98.2 million for activities related to migration and refugee crisis. This is done primarily through the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance.

Since 2007, the European Union has been providing assistance to Bosnia and Herzegovina worth amounting to € 44.8 million in the area of migration and border management through the Instrument for pre-accession assistance. The country has also benefited from the IPA regional programme ‘Support to Protection-Sensitive Migration Management’ worth up to €14.5 million. The emergency humanitarian assistance provided so far amounts to € 3.8 million.

Over 33,300 refugees and migrants entered Bosnia and Herzegovina since January 2018, according to government estimates. Approximately 8,000 refugees and migrants in need of assistance are currently present in the country, mostly in the Una-Sana Canton. Approximately, 4,500 are accommodated in EU-funded temporary reception centres.

As of Friday 14 June, local authorities proceeded with a forced relocation of 900-1000 refugees and migrants to a new location called Vučijak that has been deemed unsuitable by the European Union and UN. The above-mentioned venue, without the necessary infrastructure in terms of water, sanitation or electricity, surrounded by minefields, creates a clear danger for the life and health of migrants. Furthermore, the land is a former landfill and may still be toxic. The European Union is concerned about the well-being of the people moved there and has, together with its humanitarian partners, requested the authorities to stop forced relocations and provide dignified and secure shelter solutions. The European Union is also concerned about the authorities’ intention to take measures against humanitarian partners.

The € 13 million is based on the Commission Decision C (2019) 3189 on supporting Bosnia and Herzegovina in managing the migration flows for 2019

The €1.8 million announced today is based on the Commission Implementing Decision C(2019) 17 on the financing of humanitarian aid operational priorities from the 2019 general budget of the European Union ECHO/WWD/BUD/2019/01000.

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Rotta balcanica. Caritas: “Situazione a Bihac inaccettabile, Europa intervenga”

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“Mentre in Serbia la situazione è abbastanza buona, in Bosnia le condizioni dei migranti sono del tutto inaccettabili: hanno bisogno di tutto, alcuni si trovano in un centro informale, dove prima c’era una discarica. E’ inaccettabile che, a 4 ore di macchina dall’Italia, ci siano persone costrette a vivere così. Le istituzioni italiane ed europee devono iniziare a seguire in maniera seria la situazione”. A sottolinearlo è Oliviero Forti di Caritas italiana e Caritas Europa, di ritorno da una missione nei Balcani, nelle zone di confine con la Croazia. “Siamo stati prima in alcuni centri in Serbia: uno di questi era un ex ospedale psichiatrico e affaccia in territorio croato - . aggiunge Forti -. Ma devo dire che qui ci sono standard buoni, di qualità e non ci sono tantissime persone. Diversa è la situazione in Bosnia, lo stress psicologico delle persone è altissimo, i migranti provano costantemente a passare la frontiera ma vengono rimandati indietro. La violenza della polizia croata nei loro confronti sta diventando una vera emergenza”. Al confine, infatti, per i migranti (per lo più afgani, pakistani, iracheni e siriani) che provano il “game” (passaggio delle frontiere) a Bihac il trattamento è durissimo: secondo quanto testimoniato dagli stessi migranti gli abusi sono sistematici: vengono picchiati, i vestiti gli vengono tolti, così come i telefonini spesso distrutti. “A questa situazione va data una risposta diversa - aggiunge -. tra due mesi qui ci saranno due metri di neve, il gioco diventa molto rischioso. Inoltre c’è una difficoltà di integrazione evidente, le persone del luogo sono sempre più intolleranti e razziste nei loro confronti”. La Bosnia sta diventando così un buco nero, dove i migranti restano bloccati senza poter andare avanti né tornare indietro. “A breve la Serbia chiuderà l’accordo con Frontex per monitorare i confini - conclude Forti - anche questo rientra nella strategia di esternalizzazione delle frontiere, che ormai non vediamo più solo in mare ma anche via terra”.

▻https://www.redattoresociale.it/article/notiziario/rotta_balcanica_caritas_situazione_a_bihac_inaccettabile_europa_int

Il campo tossico dove l’Europa scorda i migranti

Muri e migrazioni. A #Vucjak, in Bosnia, si sopravvive senza assistenza, tra rifiuti e mine anti-uomo: il campo si trova sopra una vecchia discarica, l’acqua non è potabile e la terra, mai bonificata, è intrisa di veleni. E chi tenta la fuga in Croazia trova la polizia e il suo «gioco»: cibo confiscato e zaini dati alle fiamme

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Nascosto tra le cime boscose del monte Plješevica e circondato da zone ancora minate delle guerre jugoslave, il campo rifugiati di Vucjak, nella Bosnia nord-occidentale, è una prova scioccante della crisi che si è abbattuta contro la porta di servizio dell’Unione europea. Le Nazioni unite hanno recentemente descritto questo campo, a pochi chilometri dal confine spinato croato, come del tutto inadeguato ad accogliere civili.

UNICO CAMPO in cui non sono presenti le grandi organizzazioni non-governative internazionali, è ufficialmente gestito dalla municipalità della cittadina di Bihac. E sotto-affidata, non ufficialmente, ai volontari della Croce Rossa locale di Bihac.

È sorto dopo che le autorità della Bosnia e i governi municipali del Cantone di Una-Sana, hanno deciso che i migranti non potevano più rimanere negli spazi pubblici o negli edifici abbandonati, entro i limiti della città.
Plastica, vetro, vecchi vestiti ormai diventati stracci, copertoni di gomme usate giacciono sul terreno contaminato.

Si tratta di resti tossici del passato. Il campo si trova sul sito di una vecchia discarica, in attività solo fino a qualche anno fa. Le condizioni sono terribilmente preoccupanti. La sopravvivenza è legata all’acqua non potabile, alla terra intrisa di anni di veleni, al solo lavoro dei volontari.

ALMENO UN MIGLIAIO di migranti sono ammassati in questo inferno. Provengono da Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Siria, Pakistan. L’accesso all’acqua è ridotto a dieci ore al giorno, non esiste un approvvigionamento idrico permanente.

Vucjak fa eco all’inumanità del campo profughi di Calais in Francia del nord e all’abietta inazione dei governi europei. La mancanza di infrastrutture di base e servizi igienico-sanitari a Vucjak viola profondamente le norme minime stabilite dai canoni delle Nazioni unite.

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Nel bel mezzo del campo, un’enorme mappa mostra la posizione dei campi minati locali. Ogni giorno, più volte al giorno, camionette della polizia bosniaca riversano su Vucjak migranti che sono fuori dai circuiti dei centri di accoglienza temporanei, quelli dell’Organizzazione internazionale per le Migrazioni.

Come cani randagi, vengono scaricati in mezzo al campo, dopo aver aperto il portellone posteriore del furgone, sigillato da uno sfolgorante lucchetto. È strettamente proibito riprendere queste scene, non ci sono fotografie, video o materiali propagandistici, ma è una pratica che va avanti indisturbatamente.

Nonostante l’ingiustizia umanitaria, non sono le mine antiuomo, le condizioni precarie di salute o la mancanza di servizi igienico-sanitari che i migranti raccontano. Raccontano le violenze «passive» della polizia di confine. Nelle ultime settimane c’è un nuovo gioco che usa la polizia croata: rastrellare e bruciare cibo, vestiti, scarpe, zaini, telefoni dei ragazzi che tentano il game.

Nella programmazione dell’attraversamento del confine croato-bosniaco, si spendono circa 100 marchi (poco più di 50 euro) in generi alimentari, per lo più pane e derivati. Spesso quei 100 marchi rappresentano i risparmi di mesi, così bruciare il cibo diventa un segnale di terribile spietatezza.

Emad è fuggito dalla Siria, con la moglie e il figlioletto di appena due anni. Ha tentato il game ma l’hanno rispedito nel Borici temporary reception center della città di Bihac, derubandolo di tutto. Mentre lo staff medico dell’associazione italiana One Life Onlus visita il figlio, Emad ci porge una busta di plastica con un telefono all’interno. Ci chiede se lo vogliamo comprare, così con quei soldi può provare di nuovo ad attraversare il confine con la Croazia. È straziante. Non ci sono parole.

DAL GENNAIO 2018, quasi 36mila migranti sono entrati in Bosnia, rimanendo intrappolati tra le politiche europee, progettate per ridurre gli attraversamenti irregolari, e la situazione di stallo politico in Bosnia, che di fatto impedisce alle autorità locali di fornire protezione.

Dalla Turchia e dalla Grecia, sono due le principali vie di passaggio per la Bosnia: una attraversa la Macedonia del nord e la Serbia, l’altra attraversa l’Albania e il Montenegro.

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In piedi nel campo di Vucjak, tra una folla di corpi maltrattati e ossa rotte, ci si trova di fronte alle feroci conseguenze della geopolitica europea. Nel cinico sforzo del governo croato di dimostrare di avere le carte in regola per aderire all’area Schengen di libera circolazione, il Paese respinge i migranti senza seguire le adeguate procedure di asilo.

IL VIAGGIO DI GULRAIZ inizia a Kunduz, in Afghanistan. Facciamo fatica a guadagnare la sua fiducia. La solitudine che accompagna i migranti è invalicabile. Sorridono, ma gli occhi sono vuoti. Mese dopo mese camminano senza alcun riposo e senza alcun appoggio. Si viaggia insieme ad amici di circostanza, a meri compagni di percorso.

Per un marco ha ricaricato il suo prezioso e vecchio telefono a Vucjak. Dopo qualche racconto, ci mostra sul telefono la mappa che userà per tentare il game partendo dal monte Plješevica, addentrandosi nel fitto bosco bosniaco, passando per la cittadina bosniaca di Šturlic, fino ad arrivare agli anelati cartelli del granicni prelaz, il valico di frontiera. Un firmamento di punti rossi, di luoghi, di coordinate, di passi compaiono sulla funzione ‘satellite’ di Google Maps.

Ci ferma un biondo poliziotto bosniaco. Camicia chiusa fino all’ultimo bottone, aria spavalda e bieche gambe di piombo. Ci prende i documenti. Cerca di intimorirci segnando i nostri nomi su un taccuino spiegazzato, senza darci alcuna spiegazione.

Il favoreggiamento all’immigrazione clandestina ha un confine sottile. Siamo costretti ad allontanarci. Lo facciamo con l’immagine negli occhi della mappa satellitare di Gulraiz, con le mani segnate da un viaggio inumano di Abdurahman che con ago e filo riparava il suo zaino, con gli occhi sgranati dall’incertezza dei ragazzi che non hanno un badge per il ’5 stelle’ dei centri di accoglienza temporanei.

Lasciamo la Bosnia con l’immagine di Ibrahim, poco più di tre anni, che segue camminando il suo papà, imitandolo con le braccia piegate all’indietro.

▻https://ilmanifesto.it/il-campo-tossico-dove-leuropa-scorda-i-migranti

‘Absurdistan’ : Migrants face dangerous winter in Bosnia

Political inaction leaves hundreds living on former dump amid snake-infested minefields

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“This is jungle life,” says Wasim, a Pakistani who is among hundreds of migrants staying in a makeshift camp in northwestern Bosnia, from where they strike out at night in small groups for nearby Croatia and the European Union.

“We are all like animals here just trying to survive. It’s the worst sentence I could say, but unfortunately it’s true.”

The political science graduate from near Lahore speaks eloquently about how a famous son of the city, Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan, could transform life for his nation of 208 million and the quarter of its people who live in poverty.

Wasim (34) plans to return when times are better, but now he must hike again through the thickly wooded hills above the camp, try to slip past Croatian border guards who are accused of beating and robbing migrants, and find the hoped-for job somewhere in the EU that was his reason for leaving home last year.

Danger is all around: the squalid Vucjak camp is built on a former rubbish dump that may hold high levels of methane gas – prompting the UN’s International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to declare it unfit for human habitation – while the hills are infested with snakes and dotted with landmines from Bosnia’s 1992-1995 war.

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There are no toilets for the more than 500 men who live here and washing facilities are rudimentary, increasing the risk of disease; fights are common, particularly after dark when police and local aid workers go home. A man was stabbed to death here last week during a fight between Pakistanis and Syrians.

“No one feels safe,” Wasim explains, as men who have fled conflict and poverty from North Africa to Afghanistan line up in the dust to receive food from the Bosnian Red Cross.

“Might is right here. Everyone pushes each other, everyone is desperate and wants to move on,” he says of this remote corner of Europe where he has been stuck for three months, having failed “four or five times” to enter the EU undetected.

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“Everyone knows where to go. Even if they are illiterate, even if they didn’t go to school at all, they know Croatian and Slovenian and Italian cities by name. Everyone talks about this. Maybe they can’t even tell the time, but they know how to find locations with a mobile phone.”

The so-called Balkan route did not cross Bosnia in 2015, when more than one million refugees and migrants followed it from Turkey towards Germany and other EU states, where their arrival sent immigration to the top of the political agenda.
Derelict buildings

Even in 2017, Bosnia registered only 755 migrants but, as the route shifted to bypass tighter border controls elsewhere in the Balkans, that number soared to 25,000 in 2018 – and 20,000 migrants have entered the country so far this year.

They keep coming this way because it works – only about 6,500 of those people are still in Bosnia – but as months of cold, wet and snowy weather approach, up to 2,000 people are living rough at Vucjak and in parks, woods and derelict buildings in the border towns of Bihac and Velika Kladusa.

“We’ve been warning since January of the need to increase the number of official migrant centres or their capacity . . . but there was no political decision to expand accommodation, even though international funding is available,” says Peter Van der Auweraert, the IOM representative in Bosnia.

“Winter is just around the corner and any new location takes time to establish. We now have about 4,200 beds for migrants around the country, but we need about 2,000 more,” he told The Irish Times.

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“Vucjak is a disaster and it would be a bigger disaster if it’s still open in winter . . . If we don’t act now we will have people sleeping outside in Vucjak and other totally unacceptable places and we will be facing a threat to human life.”

Yet Bosnian political leaders at all levels are unwilling to take any steps that rivals could portray as an “invitation” to migrants, or which would acknowledge the fact that they are likely to keep coming to the country for the foreseeable future.

The local authorities in Bihac transported people to Vucjak despite objections from international aid groups, moving them from the city’s streets and parks to the edge of the forest – “the jungle” to migrants – which leads to Croatia.

National politics is meanwhile paralysed, not for the first time under Bosnia’s fiendishly complex post-war system, as parties representing its Bosniak Muslim, Serb and Croat communities have yet to form a government nearly a year after elections.

“This is ‘Absurdistan’,” declares Ale Siljdedic, police spokesman for Una-Sana canton, in his office in Bihac.

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“The problem is that no one cares in this country. They don’t care for local people, never mind the migrants. What is 5,000 migrants for a whole country if everyone shares them around? It’s nothing. But for a city of 50,000 like Bihac it’s too much.”
Mass brawls

The Pakistani stabbed at Vucjak last week was the second man to die in fights between migrants in Bihac. There have been a couple of mass brawls, but most of the cases he sees relate to minor thefts, particularly of phones and clothes, and break-ins at empty houses near the border where migrants sleep and then move on.

“If you don’t have something to eat and you’re hungry you will go inside somewhere and get it. If it’s freezing cold and you could be dead the next morning then you’ll go into a house or abandoned building to sleep,” Mr Siljdedic says.

“Maybe we’ll find you dead with two friends as happened last year, when they made a fire and it spread everywhere and they were killed. We’ve had 20 dead migrants in the last two years: two murdered, six drowned, three burned, some car accidents and a train hit one guy. This is the life we have here – people are coming and going and some die.

“Camp Vucjak is not good and it will be much worse in winter. When the rain and snow come – and it can be minus 20 with two metres of snow up there – what will happen to those guys? They’ll come to Bihac and come into contact with locals and make some shit. And then we’ll have to deal with them.”

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Many migrants see the next few weeks as their last chance to reach the EU this year, creating a likely increase in movement towards Croatia, where officials deny claims that border guards beat and rob people that they push back into Bosnia.

“With winter coming [migrants] are increasingly on edge and they feel like it’s ‘now or never’ to get across the border. At the same, the border guards in Croatia seem to be pushing people back more aggressively than before,” says Nihal Osman, deputy field co-ordinator in Bosnia and Serbia for Médecins Sans Frontières.

“There’s been a noticeable increase of alleged push-back injuries in the last week or so, including people with broken bones and dog bites.”

Sitting in a wheelchair in an IOM-run camp near Bihac, Amir Ali Mohammad Labaf accuses Croatian border guards of dumping him in the forest near the frontier just days after he suffered back injuries when he fell down a roadside embankment.

Labaf says he was persecuted in Iran as an activist from the Gonabadi dervish order, a major Sufi sect that is denounced by country’s Shia theocracy; news reports from 2008 say a court in Qom sentenced a member of the sect with the same name to five years in jail, 74 lashes and internal exile for “spreading lies”.

“I was in hospital for a day in Croatia and asked for asylum. They said no and deported me to the jungle,” says Labaf (40), referring to the forest that spans the border. “I want to go to France, but I can only walk a little and with great pain.”

At Vucjak, meanwhile, Wasim is ready for another round of what migrants call “the game”.

“I don’t have money to pay smugglers so I will try by myself to cross the border. I have some knowledge of the stars so I can travel by night,” he says. “You just have to try and try and try. And when you succeed, then you know it was the right time.”

▻https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/absurdistan-migrants-face-dangerous-winter-in-bosnia-1.4027923

Water cut to crowded migrant camp as Bosnian authorities feud, seek to downsize its population

Local authorities in the Bosnian town of Bihac on Monday cut off a nearby migrant camp’s water supply, to pressure the government into reducing the population of the overcrowded site that international organizations have criticized as unsuitable.

But aid workers said the move will just cause additional suffering for the #Vucjak tent camp’s 1,000 residents, many of whom walked out of the site with empty plastic bottles to beg water from Bosnians living in the vicinity.

Officials in the northwestern town also announced a crisis meeting to discuss what to do with the camp, which hosts migrants stopped in the impoverished Balkan country while trying to reach Western Europe.

“It is obvious that the situation must be brought to the verge of absurdity in order to be solved,” complained Bihac Mayor Suhret Fazlic.

Both the United Nations and the European Union missions in Bosnia have urged authorities to relocate the migrants from Vucjak — which is situated on a former landfill and near minefields left over from the 1992-95 war.

Camp resident Osman Ali, from Pakistan, described conditions as “bad, very bad.”

“I think all people here are seeking a better situation, situation is very dirty here,” he told The Associated Press.

Ali and other migrants were lining up Monday for a meal from the local Red Cross. Police last week rounded up hundreds of migrants from Bihac and brought them all to Vucjak, nearly doubling the camp population.

Fazlic has warned that the city will also cut waste collection services to draw attention to the camp’s failings and force the government to share the burden and move some of the migrants to other parts of the country.

Thousands of migrants are stuck in northwestern Bosnia, unable to continue their trek north through neighboring Croatia whose police have been accused of violently repulsing migrants caught trying to illegally cross the border.

Selam Midzic, a Red Cross representative at Vucjak, said cutting the water supply would just raise tensions among the migrants, and consequently with aid workers and locals.

“In the camp itself, migrants will put pressure on the Red Cross representatives, who work here and who have no protection at all, demanding to be provided with drinking water,” he warned.

The U.N. last week warned of a possible “humanitarian emergency” if aid is cut for the camp, urging Bosnia’s government to urgently find a new location.

In the dusty camp, some migrants used puddle water to wash. Lounging outdoors during a spell of unusually warm weather, others said they fear conditions will deteriorate once winter cold sets in.

Ahmed, from Pakistan, said many migrants have been sick: “(We don’t) have water, (or) food, (they) only give one person two (slices of) bread,” he said and added, pointing to his feet and clothing: “No have shoes and no jacket!”

Tens of thousands of people from Asia, the Middle East and Africa emigrate illegally to Europe every year, braving perilous sea journeys and closed borders in the hope of securing a better life in the continent’s more affluent countries.

On Monday, Libya’s coast guard said it intercepted 126 Europe-bound migrants in a rubber boat off the country’s Mediterranean coast.

In Malta, authorities said police arrested 107 people following overnight riots in the Hal Fa migrant detention center.

The interior ministry said the trouble, involving about 300 migrants, started late Sunday when a migrant tried to enter the center while allegedly drunk. A police vehicle was damaged and three police officers slightly injured in the violence.

The U.N. refugee agency expressed concern.

https://cdn.japantimes.2xx.jp/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/f-bosniacamp-a-20191023-870x581.jpg

Inside Bosnia’s ’nightmare’ camp for migrants trying to enter the EU

Aid agencies are warning of a humanitarian disaster in Bosnia, with people facing a winter without proper accommodation.

Bosnia is now a major route into the EU – 45,000 migrants have arrived in the country since the start of 2018.

The country’s official refugee camps are full and the government has not allocated new sites, despite being given £10m by the EU this summer to do so.

▻https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-50132250/inside-bosnia-s-nightmare-camp-for-migrants-trying-to-enter-the-eu
#vidéo #gale #hiver #campement

On dit dans le reportage que la zone autour du camp est entourée de #mines_anti-personnel

Réponse de Simon Missiri à ma question sur l’argent récolté par la #Croix-Rouge pour faire face à la situation humanitaire en Bosnie, via twitter 25.10.2109 :

https://i.imgur.com/GFPVh6u.png

Le lien vers le rapport « Emergency Plan of Action Operations Update No .3, Bosnia and Herzegovina : Population Movement » du 25.10.2109

https://i.imgur.com/k123EUw.png

https://i.imgur.com/k0xSgdv.png

En complément à cet article du Washington Post dont j’ai pas accès :
▻https://t.co/6a2wO51pQr?amp=1

Bosnian authorities have announced the closure of the ad-hoc “camp” in Vučjak, where terrible conditions prevail and refugees have no access to water, toilets, or medical assistance (►https://apps.derstandard.at/privacywall/story/2000110464615/bosnisches-aufnahmezentrum-fuer-fluechtlinge-wird-geschlossen). The camp, which was built on a former garbage dump, has been repeatedly criticised by a number of international and regional organisations for its range of health threats and non-compliance or minimum standards for refugee reception. With the previously announced closure of the temporary reception centres Bira in Bihać and Miral in Velika Kladuša, the question of accommodating thousands of refugees in Bosnia and Herzegovina arises, especially given that the weather is rapidly getting worse and winter is coming soon.

Reçu via Inicijativa dobrodosli, mail du 06.11.2019.

–---------------
Bosnisches Aufnahmezentrum für Flüchtlinge wird geschlossen

Ein neuer Standort soll gefunden werden, da das Lager nahe einer Mülldeponie und eines Minenfelds errichtet worden war.

Bosniens Sicherheitsminister Dragan Mektić hat am Dienstag die Schließung des Flüchtlingszentrums Vučjak etwa zehn Kilometer von Bihać entfernt angekündigt. Dort halten sich laut dem Minister derzeit zwischen 800 und 1.000 Flüchtlinge und Migranten auf.

Das Aufnahmezentrum war im Juni unweit einer Mülldeponie und eines Minenfelds errichtet worden. Mehrere internationale Organisationen hatten sogleich gewarnt, dass das Zentrum ein ernstes Gesundheits- und Sicherheitsrisiko darstelle und nicht den internationalen Normen entsprechend für die Unterbringung von Flüchtlingen ausgestattet sei.
Keine ehemaligen Kasernen

Föderationspremier Fadil Novalić hat Mektić zufolge dieser Tage einige Standorte für ein neues Aufnahmezentrum vorgeschlagen. Es würde sich um eine Investition von 1,5 bis zwei Millionen Euro handeln, berichtete der Minister. Die Kommunalbehörden sind weiterhin nicht bereit, den gesamtstaatlichen Behörden ehemalige Militärkasernen zur Aufnahme von Flüchtlingen zur Verfügung zu stellen.

Die Behörden des Kantons Una-Sana hatten in der Vorwoche die Schließung von weiteren zwei Aufnahmezentren, Bira in Bihać und Miral in Velika Kladuša, angekündigt. In den beiden Zentren halten sich derzeit rund 2.000 Personen auf.

Im Kanton Una-Sana befinden sich laut früheren Angaben der Regionalregierung etwa 5.000 Migranten und Flüchtlinge, heuer wurden bereits 36.000 registriert. (APA, 29.10.2019)

►https://apps.derstandard.at/privacywall/story/2000110464615/bosnisches-aufnahmezentrum-fuer-fluechtlinge-wird-geschlossen

Bosnia-Herzegovina: Fearing winter at the Vucjak refugee camp

Conditions in the Vucjak refugee camp in the northwest of the country are dire. The makeshift camp, which was put up in the summer, is dirty, unhygienic, and everything is in short supply as winter approaches.

https://www.dw.com/image/51115954_303.jpg

▻https://www.dw.com/en/bosnia-herzegovina-fearing-winter-at-the-vucjak-refugee-camp/g-51175675

Cold weather comes, no relief in sight for Bosnia’s migrants

https://storage.googleapis.com/afs-prod/media/e58bd86499ef46a98c846fd352002925/800.jpeg

Despite the approach of harsh weather, hundreds of refugees and migrants are still stuck in northwest Bosnia in a makeshift camp described by international organizations as dangerous and inhumane.

Desperate men, including many who have made several unsuccessful attempts to cross into neighboring European Union member Croatia, sleep in the ill-equipped Vucjak tent camp. It is located on a former landfill, not far from a minefield left over from Bosnia’s 1992-95 war.

The men spend their days collecting wood from nearby forest to use for the small fires that are their only source of warmth during Bosnia’s chilly fall nights. They get only one meal per day, distributed by local Red Cross volunteers, and are forced to shower outside, with no privacy or even a semblance of comfort.

The Vucjak camp, where they might end up spending the entire harsh Bosnian winter, was set up by local authorities to increase the pressure on the central government, which they have accused of not doing enough to distribute the migrant burden around the country.

Bosnia has been overwhelmed by the arrival of migrants heading toward Europe along the Balkan route. Most migrants flock to its northwest region, which borders Croatia.

This has led to tensions in the border area where most of the over 6,000 migrants now in the country are staying.

▻https://apnews.com/c0c9dd7dcab444b791ce099feff6cb65

Bosnie : le projet d’ouverture de deux centres pour migrants stagne malgré l’urgence de l’hiver

Entre travaux interminables et lenteurs administratives, l’ouverture de deux nouveaux centres d’hébergement pour faire face à l’afflux de migrants en Bosnie prend du retard. L’ONU appelle le gouvernement à débloquer la situation qui, en l’état, pourrait conduire à des décès de migrants sans abri au cours de l’hiver.

À l’approche de l’hiver, l’Organisation internationale pour les migrations (OIM) s’est lancée dans une véritable course contre la montre pour mettre à l’abri les milliers de migrants qui survivent dans les bois ou dans le camp de Vucjak, dans le nord de la Bosnie, à la frontière avec la Croatie, membre de l’Union européenne (UE).

Selon Peter Van Der Auweraert, représentant de l’OIM en Bosnie, quelque 2 500 migrants sont actuellement sans abri dans cette région : un millier d’entre eux vivent dans le camp de Vucjak, installés sur une ancienne décharge. Et 1 500 autres sont éparpillés dans les bois alentours, occupant souvent de vieilles bâtisses abandonnées et vétustes.

Les deux centres d’hébergement de Bira à Bihać et Miral à Velika Kladuša tournent, eux, à pleine capacité avec 1 500 personnes dans le premier (principalement des hommes seuls) et 600 à 700 personnes dans le second (principalement des familles et des mineurs non-accompagnés).

Chaque jour, de nombreux migrants continuent d’affluer dans le canton d’Una Sana avec l’espoir de réussir à franchir la frontière croate et ainsi entrer dans l’UE. Le ministère de la Sécurité évalue à au moins 50 000 le nombre de migrants ayant traversé le pays l’année dernière à destination de l’Europe.

Les autorités locales du canton d’Una Sana peinent de plus en plus à faire face à l’afflux de migrants et se heurtent à la grogne des citoyens. Plusieurs centaines d’habitants de Bihac ont ainsi manifesté mi-novembre pour demander la fermeture des centres d’hébergement et du camp de Vucjak.

https://scd.infomigrants.net/media/resize/my_image_big/c55550fd44c7c81fd29eda2a27b378ca58717b71.jpeg

Le gouvernement bosnien, de son côté, a approuvé début novembre deux nouveaux sites d’hébergement des migrants en dehors de la région d’Una Sana, l’un dans le canton de Tuzla et l’autre dans celui de Sarajevo. Après plusieurs jours d’attente, les équipes de l’OIM ont eu accès la semaine dernière aux bâtiments afin d’évaluer leur capacité et les travaux à faire.

“Mauvaise nouvelle, le site de Tuzla est, pour l’instant, inutilisable. La protection civile nous a informés qu’il restait des mines anti-personnelles autour des anciens baraquements militaires qui devaient être convertis en centre d’hébergement”, indique Peter Van Der Auweraert de l’OIM Bosnie, joint par InfoMigrants. Selon lui, l’opération de déminage prendra plusieurs semaines. Le site ne devrait pas être disponible avant le printemps.
"Le gouvernement n’a pas le sens de l’urgence"

Le site du canton de Sarajevo, lui, est “utilisable”, poursuit Peter Van Der Auweraert. “Mais quatre semaines de travaux sont à prévoir car l’eau courante ne fonctionne pas, l’électricité n’est pas aux normes et il n’y a pas de raccordement aux égouts”, explique-t-il, estimant que ce site serait en mesure d’accueillir la quasi-totalité des migrants qui se trouvent dans les bois et dans le camp de Vucjak. Il vise une ouverture, au mieux, début 2020, à condition que le ministère de la Sécurité donne son feu vert rapidement. “Le problème c’est que le gouvernement central n’a absolument pas le sens de l’urgence, il n’y a pas de véritable volonté politique”, regrette-t-il.

En attendant, l’OIM souhaiterait augmenter la capacité d’accueil du centre de Bira afin d’y transférer un maximum de migrants sans abri, mais les autorités cantonales font barrage. Elles ont même récemment menacé de mettre en place un blocus dans les centres de Bira et Miral empêchant la libre circulation des migrants.

“La neige doit commencer à arriver la semaine prochaine, j’ai très peur que nous ayons rapidement des pertes de vies humaines à cause de l’inaction politique”, prévient Peter Van Der Auweraert, rappelant que que les conditions sanitaires dans lesquelles les migrants de Vucjak survivent sont, en outre, extrêmement précaires. “Ces personnes ont besoin d’une évaluation médicale avant même de pouvoir être transférés dans des centres. On estime, par exemple, que 70% des migrants de Vucjak ont la gale. Malgré l’urgence, on ne peut pas travailler car on dépend des décisions du gouvernement qui n’arrivent pas”, termine-t-il, appelant une nouvelle fois les autorités à réagir.

▻https://www.infomigrants.net/fr/post/21119/bosnie-le-projet-d-ouverture-de-deux-centres-pour-migrants-stagne-malg

Bosnie-Herzégovine : le Conseil de l’Europe demande la fermeture du camp de Vučjak

« Ce camp devrait être fermé sans délai », a déclaré mardi la Commissaire aux droits humains du Conseil de l’Europe, Dunja Mijatović, lors de sa visite à Vučjak. Sur le terrain, les ONG dénoncent un « cauchemar », alors que les migrants et réfugiés se sont lancés dans une grève de la faim pour protester contre les conditions de vie catastrophiques.

« Des gens vont mourir », a déclaré mardi à la presse Dunja Mijatović, la Commissaire aux droits de l’Homme du Conseil de l’Europe, lors de sa visite au camp de Vučjak. « Ce n’est pas un lieu pour des êtres humains. » Depuis trois jours, des migrants de ce campement informel situé à 8 km de la frontière croate et qui « accueille » environ 600 personnes, sont en grève de la faim, refusant la nourriture et les boissons chaudes que des bénévoles de la Croix-Rouge leur apportent une fois par jour. Ce qu’ils veulent, disent-ils, c’est poursuivre leur route vers l’Europe.

Les photos dans la presse montrent des hommes blottis sous des couvertures, certains sans chaussures ni chaussettes, alors que la température a chuté en-dessous de zéro degré. « Nous ne sommes pas des criminels ni des terroristes », proteste un Pakistanais, cité par Radio Slobodna Evropa. « Pourquoi sommes-nous condamnés à vivre ainsi ? J’ai donné de nombreuses interviews pour alerter l’opinion, mais ça n’a rien changé. » Les ONG présentes sur le terrain dénoncent également une situation catastrophique. « Un cauchemar », selon Médecins sans frontières (MSF).

« Les réfugiés et les migrants doivent être transférés dans un endroit chaud, où ils recevront un repas et où il sera possible de traiter leurs demandes de la façon la plus appropriée », a insisté Dunja Mijatović. Elle-même d’origine bosnienne, elle a reconnu qu’elle avait « honte qu’une chose pareille existe dans [son] pays ». « La solution est de fermer ce camp et de faire en sorte que ces gens survivent à l’hiver », a-t-elle plaidé. Dunja Mijatović a prévu de rencontrer vendredi des représentants des différents niveaux institutionnels en Bosnie-Herzégovine.

Le ministre bosnien de la Sécurité, Dragan Mektić, a affirmé que les réfugiés et migrants seraient prochainement transférés dans un nouveau centre d’accueil temporaire à Blažuje, près de Sarajevo. « Les travaux de construction et de rénovation ont commencé et nous prévoyons que les premiers migrants y soient hébergés d’ici deux à trois semaines », a-t-il assuré. Selon le ministère de la Sécurité, la Bosnie-Herzégovine compte sept centres d’accueil officiels où se trouvent actuellement environ 4500 réfugiés et migrants.

▻https://www.courrierdesbalkans.fr/Bosnie-Herzegovine-le-Conseil-de-l-Europe-demande-la-fermeture-du

Bosnie-Herzégovine : les migrants du camp de Vučjak en #grève_de_la_faim

Alors que la neige s’est mise à tomber en Bosnie-Herzégovine, les conditions dans le camp de Vučjak, déjà misérables, ont empiré. Depuis mardi, plusieurs migrants qui tentent de survivre dans le camp refusent de boire et de s’alimenter pour protester contre la situation. Un membre de l’équipe mobile de la Croix-Rouge de Bihac a déclaré à Klix.ba qu’ils avaient refusé d’avaler le repas chaud préparé mardi matin et de boire du thé.

« Nous avons faim, nous mourons, mais nous n’irons nulle part ailleurs en Bosnie-Herzégovine. Nous exhortons l’UE à ouvrir ses frontières », a déclaré l’un des migrants. Outre la nourriture, ils refusent également de nouvelles tentes – sous le poids de la neige, plusieurs se sont déjà écroulées – et des couvertures.

La Commissaire aux droits humains du Conseil de l’Europe, Dunja Mijatović, a demandé mardi la fermeture immédiate du camp.
Bosnie-Herzégovine : la neige est tombée sur le camp de Vučjak

4 décembre - 8h30 : Les premières neiges sont tombées sur le camp de Vučjak, où survivent 800 à 1000 réfugiés, très mal vêtus, souvent sans chaussures. Plusieurs tentes fournies par le Croissant-Rouge turc se sont effondrées sous le poids de la neige.

►https://www.courrierdesbalkans.fr/courrierdesbalkans-fr-fil-info-refugies-2019-novembre

Vučjak au bout de l’enfer

Des milliers d’exilés se massent dans des conditions épouvantables dans le nord-ouest de la Bosnie-Herzégovine dans l’espoir ténu de gagner l’Union européenne à travers les montagnes.

https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/1203744582086909953/-Dlk57TR?format=jpg&name=small#.jpg

▻https://lecourrier.ch/2019/12/08/vucjak-au-bout-de-lenfer
#paywall

Le camp de Vucjak évacué, mais le sort de ces migrants n’est en rien réglé

Après des semaines de demandes d’ONG humanitaires et de pression de l’Union européenne sur les autorités de Bosnie-Herzégovine, le campement de Vucjak est en cours d’évacuation.

https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/1203955410211917824/eAIcSNf6?format=jpg&name=small#.jpg

Bosnia Puts Off Closing Makeshift Migrant Camp ’Until Further Notice’

Bosnian authorities have indefinitely postponed the scheduled closing of a makeshift migrant tent camp in the northwest of the country.

The closing of the Vucjak camp had been scheduled for December 9, following harsh international criticism of the improper conditions hundreds of people are being housed in. The camp is hosting some 600 migrants, according to the Red Cross.

Rade Kovac, the director of the Bosnian Service for Foreigners’ Affairs, visited the camp on December 9 and said that the authorities had postponed closing the camp until further notice.

Aid groups have repeatedly warned that the Vucjak camp is located on a former landfill and close to a mine field from Bosnia’s 1992-95 war, and has no running water or toilets. Living conditions worsened further after snow started falling last week.

Kovac said the migrants will eventually be moved to one of the reception centers in the Sarajevo Canton. He gave no reason for the postponement, but media reports said the decision was prompted by a lack of proper accommodation at the reception centers.

Bosnia-Herzegovina’s security minister, Dragan Mektic, last week announced that the occupants of the camp on the border with Croatia would be relocated to other camps outside the region.

“It was agreed that migrants would be moved early next week from this locality to other reception centers...and that this makeshift camp would be closed,” Mektic said in a statement on December 6.

The decision to close the camp came after Dunja Mijatovic, the Council of Europe commissioner for human rights, visited Vucjak last week and warned that deaths would be imminent if the camp were not closed at once. “If we don’t close the camp today, tomorrow people will start dying here,” she told reporters while visiting the snow-covered camp.

On December 6, Mijatovic told a news conference in the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, that it was now urgent to relocate the migrants and provide them with “decent accommodation.”

"Many people lack adequate clothing and footwear,’’ she said. "It is inhumane and unacceptable to keep people in such conditions.’’

However, some migrants said that despite snow and freezing weather, they will refuse to be moved farther away from the border. Most of the migrants flocked to the northwestern part of Bosnia because they want to continue their journey to Western Europe’s more prosperous countries by crossing the border into European Union member Croatia.

On December 7, migrants at Vucjak resumed accepting food distributed by the Bihac branch of the Red Cross, after refusing it for several days in protest at the announced relocation of the camp.

Bosnian authorities have struggled to accommodate thousands of people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Migrants enter Bosnia from neighboring Serbia or Montenegro.

▻https://reliefweb.int/report/bosnia-and-herzegovina/bosnia-puts-closing-makeshift-migrant-camp-until-further-notice

Bosnia, “situazione insostenibile nel campo di Vucjak. Migranti al freddo senza acqua corrente e luce”. Ma la chiusura è rinviata

https://st.ilfattoquotidiano.it/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/09/vucjak-profughi-690x362.jpg

Una situazione intollerabile, con tende coperte dalla neve e mancanza delle più elementari condizioni igieniche. È questo lo stato del campo profughi di Vucjak, nel Nord-Ovest della Bosnia-Erzegovina, vicino alla frontiera con la Croazia. Lunedì 9 dicembre le autorità ne hanno rinviato la chiusura, dopo averla annunciata nei giorni precedenti sotto la crescente pressione della comunità internazionale. I media locali, nel dare notizia del rinvio, non ne hanno chiarito i motivi. È possibile che le strutture indicate per l’accoglienza dei seicento profughi non siano ancora del tutto pronte.

Il campo, aperto a giugno scorso vicino a Bihac, si trova su una ex discarica e vicino a terreni minati nella guerra degli anni novanta e non dispone delle infrastrutture più elementari, di acqua corrente o elettricità. I profughi, principalmente giovani uomini, vivono in tende non riscaldate, nonostante le temperature siano scese in questi giorni sotto lo zero.

Era stata in particolare Dunja Mijatovic, commissaria dei diritti umani del Consiglio d’Europa, a chiedere lo smantellamento del campo di Vucjak. La commissaria martedì 3 dicembre si era recata sul posto e aveva denunciato la passività delle autorità bosniache: “Se non si chiude questo campo oggi, domani le persone cominceranno a morire. Di chi sarà la responsabilità?”. Venerdì, davanti alla stampa, aveva di nuovo parlato di condizioni “molto difficili e vergognose”, dicendosi “scioccata” da ciò che aveva visto a Vucjak. Anche Medici senza Frontiere aveva segnalato la difficile situazione dei profughi, molti dei quali sprovvisti di vestiti adeguati ad affrontare il freddo. Le reazioni della comunità internazionale avevano spinto le autorità bosniache a decidere la chiusura immediata del campo all’inizio della settimana successiva, salvo poi tornare sui loro passi.

L’obiettivo, dopo un passaggio temporaneo in vari centri di accoglienza, è accogliere i circa seicento profughi di Vucjak in una ex caserma nei pressi di Sarajevo. Non tutti i migranti sembrano però disposti ad accettare il trasferimento, che significa allontanarsi dalla frontiera con la Croazia, Paese membro dell’Unione europea nel quale intendono entrare per poi proseguire il viaggio verso l’Europa occidentale. Nei precedenti tentativi di trasferire i migranti nella capitale, infatti, i profughi avevano chiesto di tornare a Bihac per essere più vicini al confine.

▻https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2019/12/09/bosnia-situazione-insostenibile-nel-campo-di-vucjak-migranti-al-freddo-senza-acqua-corrente-e-luce-ma-chiusura-e-rinviata/5604973

En Bosnie-Herzégovine, l’un des pires camps de réfugiés d’Europe évacué

L’évacuation du camp de migrants de Vucjak, en Bosnie-Herzégovine, a démarré mardi 10 décembre, après que la Commissaire aux droits de l’homme du Conseil de l’Europe a demandé aux autorités de « fermer sans délai ». Il y a quelques semaines, Mediapart y avait constaté les conditions de vie honteuses. Reportage.

Début décembre, en visite sur place dans la neige, la Commissaire aux droits de l’homme du Conseil de l’Europe avait demandé aux autorités bosniennes de « fermer Vucjak sans délai ». Dans ce camp informel apparu en juin dernier à l’extrémité nord-ouest de la Bosnie-Herzégovine, des réfugiés s’entassent dans des conditions honteuses, cherchant à rallier à pied la frontière croate, puis la Slovénie et l’Italie derrière. Elle-même bosnienne, Dunja Mijatovic avait formulé cette requête à la mi-octobre déjà, sans succès.

Cette fois, l’évacuation a commencé, mardi 10 décembre, en début d’après-midi. « Pour des raisons de sécurité », les journalistes n’ont pas eu le droit d’accéder au site, contraints de suivre le déroulé des opérations loin de cette ancienne décharge, sur laquelle les autorités du canton d’Una-Sana avaient établi un camp, à quelques kilomètres seulement de la Croatie (membre de l’UE). Le week-end dernier, des migrants résidant là s’étaient mis en grève de la faim à l’annonce de leur relogement loin de la frontière.

En 2019, en Bosnie-Herzégovine, davantage d’arrivées de migrants ont été enregistrées qu’en Espagne ou en Italie.

Bosnie-Herzégovine, envoyés spéciaux. – Chacun s’est emmitouflé du mieux qu’il a pu. Certains ont des couvertures roulées sur les épaules, un homme brandit un étonnant parapluie vert, tous portent un gros sac sur le dos et un duvet en bandoulière. Les adieux sont brefs avec les compagnons qui restent au camp de Vu#jak, en Bosnie-Herzégovine. Cet après-midi brumeux, ils sont vingt-cinq à prendre la route de la frontière avec la Croatie, membre de l’Union européenne, située à moins d’une heure de marche. Vingt-cinq à s’engager dans le game, le « jeu » très risqué du passage de la frontière.

« J’ai déjà essayé six fois de passer », raconte Muhammad, un jeune Pakistanais. « À chaque fois qu’ils nous arrêtent, les policiers croates nous ordonnent de poser devant nous nos téléphones portables et ils les cassent. On doit aussi donner tout notre argent. Ensuite ils brûlent nos sacs, nos vêtements chauds et nos chaussures. Puis ils nous reconduisent jusqu’à la frontière de la Bosnie- Herzégovine. » Malgré ces mauvais traitements répétés, le jeune homme recommencera le gamedès qu’il aura réussi à réunir un peu d’argent pour s’équiper à nouveau. Selon lui, il faut compter 300 euros pour avoir de quoi refaire les dix jours de route à pied, caché, jusqu’en Slovénie. Pas pour les passeurs, mais pour se payer un téléphone, de nouveaux vêtements chauds et de la nourriture.

Le camp de Vucjak a été établi le 16 juin dernier sur le site très pollué (au méthane, notamment) d’une ancienne décharge, à une dizaine de kilomètres de Biha#, dans le nord-ouest de la Bosnie-Herzégovine. La frontière croate se franchit dans la montagne. Durant la guerre des années 1990, la zone a été âprement disputée et les abords du camp restent truffés de mines.

Tout l’été, le terrain était infesté de serpents. Cet automne, ce sont les sangliers qui, chaque nuit, viennent chercher de la nourriture jusque dans les tentes fournies par la Croix-Rouge turque. Ils sont 800 à 1 000 à dormir dans ce cloaque, au milieu des immondices. Des hommes seuls, à qui l’on refuse l’entrée dans les camps, surpeuplés, de Biha# et de Velika Kladuša, gérés par l’Organisation internationale pour les migrations (OIM), qui n’acceptent plus que les mineurs et les familles.

Selon Nihal Osman, coordinatrice locale de Médecins sans frontières (MSF), 7 à 8 000 migrants se trouvent aujourd’hui présents dans le canton de Biha# : 3 200 dans les camps de Bira, Miral, Sedra et Borici, plus de 4 000 dans les squats établis dans des maisons vides ou des usines abandonnées, ou bien sous les tentes de Vucjak. À l’intérieur du camp, le tableau sanitaire est affolant.

De nombreux réfugiés reviennent blessés du game, à cause des sévices infligés par la police croate. Presque tous souffrent de diarrhée et de maladies de peau, dont de nombreux cas de gale. La mairie de Biha# livre chaque jour 20 000 litres d’eau, mais les douches en plein air sont jonchées d’immondices. Les résidents doivent faire leurs besoins dehors : les sanitaires sont depuis longtemps hors d’usage. Avec les brumes humides de l’automne, la température tombe déjà en dessous de zéro certains soirs, beaucoup souffrent de la grippe, tandis que MSF recense de nombreux cas de tuberculose et de sida.

« Si ces personnes restent à l’extérieur, comme c’est le cas aujourd’hui, il y en a qui vont mourir cet hiver, prévient Nihal Osman. Ici, les températures peuvent descendre sous les – 20 °C et les feux de branchage ne suffiront pas. » L’ONG n’intervient pas à l’intérieur du camp de Vu#jak, refusant de cautionner son existence. Pour assurer malgré tout sa mission humanitaire, son personnel opère dans une petite clinique établie dans le village voisin, malgré l’hostilité des riverains. « On est obligé de se faire discrets. On ferme à 15 heures, avant que les gens reviennent du travail », explique Nihal Osman.

Seule la Croix-Rouge locale délivre un repas par jour – ce lundi, c’était une louche de riz, un peu de sauce à la viande, quelques fines tranches de pain et un litre de soda. Depuis l’été, les organisations internationales pressent les autorités bosniennes de trouver un autre emplacement, mais celles-ci font la sourde oreille. « Tout le monde se focalise sur le scandale humanitaire de Vu#jak, nuance Nihal Osman, mais le problème est européen. De plus en plus de gens s’engagent sur la route des Balkans, et le canton de Biha# en est le débouché naturel. »

De fait, Bihac, à l’extrémité nord-ouest de la Bosnie- Herzégovine, constitue le point le plus proche de la Slovénie et de l’Italie, l’objectif que veulent gagner tous ceux qui se massent ici. Pour y demander l’asile et poursuivre leur route plus sereinement vers les pays de l’ouest et du nord de l’Union européenne. Pour la Bosnie-Herzégovine, en 2019, 28 327 arrivées ont été officiellement enregistrées, en hausse de presque 5 000 par rapport à 2018 et presque 30 fois plus qu’en 2017. En Europe, seule la Grèce a enregistré plus d’arrivées. La Bosnie-Herzégovine dépasse désormais l’Espagne et l’Italie.

Se souvenant de leur expérience personnelle pendant la guerre de 1992-1995, les habitants du canton d’Una Sana ont longtemps regardé avec bienveillance et solidarité les exilés bloqués dans cette impasse de la route des Balkans. Mais aujourd’hui, c’est un sentiment de lassitude et d’exaspération qui domine. Plusieurs manifestations anti-migrants ont eu lieu à Biha# ces dernières semaines, et les autorités locales mettent des bâtons dans les roues des rares humanitaires présents sur le terrain, comme Médecins sans frontières. En fait, les réfugiés paient au prix fort les sombres calculs politiques qui opposent les autorités locales à celles de la capitale, Sarajevo.

Une longue odyssée balkanique

Le contrôle des frontières et la gestion des migrations relèvent théoriquement de l’État central de Bosnie- Herzégovine et de son ministère de la sécurité, mais le canton d’Una Sana, qui possède son propre ministère de l’intérieur, relève de la Fédération de Bosnie- Herzégovine, l’une des deux « entités » de ce pays toujours divisé. Or, les autorités du canton estiment qu’elles sont abandonnées par les autorités fédérales et qu’elles doivent faire face seules à la crise. Leur politique vise à donc à rendre les conditions de vie des migrants les plus difficiles possibles afin de les dissuader de rester sur leur territoire. Depuis deux semaines, elles interdisent même la circulation des réfugiés. Ceux qui sont raflés dans la rue par la police sont immédiatement envoyés à Vucjak.

Pour sa part, l’OIM, qui gère l’ensemble des camps de Bosnie-Herzégovine, par délégation des compétences normalement dévolues à l’État, cherche aussi à délocaliser les migrants en insistant pour l’ouverture d’autres camps officiels à l’intérieur du pays, vers Tuzla ou Sarajevo. Une politique qui a peu de chances d’être suivie d’effet, Biha# restant la « porte d’accès » à la Croatie. De surcroît, bien peu de migrants osent s’aventurer dans le nord de la Bosnie, qui dépend de la Republika Srpska, l’autre « entité » du pays, dont les autorités prônent une fermeté absolue et refusent l’ouverture de centres d’accueil.

Dans les camps officiels, l’OIM multiplie les campagnes en faveur du retour volontaire. Beaucoup de travailleurs humanitaires estiment que l’organisation se préoccupe moins d’apporter une réponse humanitaire que de contribuer à la « gestion des migrations » – c’est-à-dire aux politiques visant à dissuader les exilés de tenter de gagner l’Union européenne. Et ils s’étonnent de l’absence quasi totale du Haut-Commissariat aux réfugiés (UNHCR), qui semble avoir délégué ses compétences à l’OIM. Même le Comité international de la Croix-Rouge (CICR) n’est pas présent. Seules quelques sections nationales de la Croix-Rouge ont envoyé des équipes.

« Les autorités locales voudraient que ces gens aillent ailleurs, considérant qu’elles ont trop de migrants à gérer sur leur territoire, souligne Hannu Pekka Laiho, en mission d’observation pour la Croix-Rouge finlandaise. Le problème, c’est que chacun des acteurs impliqués dans cette crise se renvoie la balle : les Bosniens, mais aussi l’OIM et l’Union européenne. » Appuyé sur sa canne, le vieil homme s’émeut du sort réservé aux malheureux qui échouent ici. « Tout le monde veut se débarrasser de Vu#jak. En attendant, ces gens sont tout bonnement livrés à eux-mêmes. La tension est palpable, mais je m’étonne que ce ne soit pas pire encore vu les conditions dans lesquelles doivent vivre ces hommes. Tous les jours, ils m’interrogent pour savoir si de nouveaux camps vont ouvrir, en Bosnie, ou en Croatie. Je n’ai rien à leur répondre de concret. »

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Deux nationalités dominent à Vucjak, les Afghans et les Pakistanais, qui se regardent en chiens de faïence, chacun occupant sa zone. Les Maghrébins, mal vus, n’osent pas y rester et se réfugient dans les squats. Cet été, un Palestinien a été tué d’un coup de couteau. On trouve pourtant aussi quelques Indiens, et même trois Sénégalais, qui ont trouvé refuge dans le secteur afghan. Djallo, 33 ans, est originaire de Kédougou, à la frontière de la Guinée et du Mali. Il a d’abord rejoint la Turquie, puis il est passé en Grèce, où il a travaillé deux ans dans des fermes. Il s’est ensuite engagé sur la route des Balkans, après avoir économisé suffisamment d’argent, pensait-il, pour rejoindre un pays riche de l’UE.

Djallo détaille les étapes de sa longue odyssée balkanique. Il a franchi clandestinement les frontières de la Macédoine du Nord puis de la Serbie, versant à chaque fois plusieurs centaines d’euros aux passeurs. À Preševo, dans le sud de la Serbie, des Pakistanais lui ont vendu dix euros un faux récépissé de demande d’asile en Serbie, un document pourtant accessible gratuitement. Il a ensuite payé 150 euros le passage

en barque de la Drina, la rivière qui sépare la Serbie et la Bosnie-Herzégovine, puis il a gagné la région de Biha# en bus et se trouve depuis un mois à Vu#jak.

« Dans le nord de la Macédoine, je suis resté bloqué dans un village où ils gardent les gens, tant que les familles n’envoient pas l’argent », raconte-t-il, grelottant dans son manteau élimé, des claquettes en plastique dépareillées aux pieds. Deux jours plus tôt, Djallo a été rapatrié dans le camp, après avoir été violemment renvoyé de Croatie. « Cela faisait dix jours que nous marchions avec un groupe de Pakistanais et d’Afghans. On nous a arrêtés près de la Slovénie et on nous a ramenés jusqu’ici... Je n’ai opposé aucune résistance, mais les policiers m’ont tout pris. » Désespéré, sans un sou, Djallo envisage désormais de repartir en arrière. A minima jusqu’en Grèce, « parce que là-bas, au moins, on peut travailler et gagner un peu d’argent ». Les violences de la police croate visent à dissuader les gens de tenter le voyage. Zagreb a d’ailleurs été félicitée par ses partenaires européens pour sa « bonne gestion » des frontières et pourrait même être appelée prochainement à rejoindre l’espace Schengen.

▻https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/international/101219/en-bosnie-herzegovine-l-un-des-pires-camps-de-refugies-d-europe-evacue

After 179 days (5 months and 26 days) the Vucjak jungle was evacuated and its structures and tents destroyed with the excavator. 7 buses transported migrants to the Usivak camp in Hadzici, outside Sarajevo, managed by IOM. On 10 December, the eviction of the Vučjak area started. Volunteers from the region report that the authorities in Una Sana Canton and IOM announced that from this day on, Vucjak jungle will not exist. During the press conference on Monday, Bihac authorities announced that no media can be present at Vucjak during the eviction which is a serious issue restricting the work of the media, but also the right of the public to know what is happening.

Volunteers and activists on the field denounce that “media freedoms are at serious risk at the moment in Bosnia and Herzegovina in many ways. The authorities and international organizations are doing everything they can in order to restrict the media from accessing the places where refugees are, being camps run by the IOM or places like Vucjak during the eviction. Additionally, all parties involved are investing a lot of effort in spearing propaganda of different types, including hate propaganda. Local volunteers strictly condemn that international organizations are still not doing enough: “volunteers in Sarajevo are noticing more and more people in the streets, sleeping rough, among them many minors, with no care at all. The only help provided comes from the citizens, while DRC, Red Cross, cantonal authorities, IOM, UN agencies are staying aside and ignoring this fact.” Updates come also from another city of Bosnia and Herzegovina: In Tuzla, over 100 people are staying outside. People are still arriving from Serbia, daily, even though much less than during previous months. As well as in Sarajevo, many people are hosted by the locals.

If you want to keep updated on some border points like Lesbos, Patras, Athens, Šid and Velika Kladuša, you can listen the podcast that independent volunteers and volunteers working for small organizations in Greece and some of the EU’s external borders report weekly on their daily work and the dire conditions in which refugees and migrants are living. The audios are in Spanish and, time permitting, subtitles are also provided in Serbo-Croatian and English. Here the youtube channel (▻https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HjVrr5IF3Q

) where you can follow the weekly updates. Overall, they report a worsening situation at all these points. And not only because of the arrival of cold days, but above all because of the deliberate, and more and more systematic, violation of the rights of people on the move. Constant harassment and police violence, horrific and degrading living conditions, racist and inhumane treatment and much more, along with anti-immigration laws that are becoming more restrictive in all countries every day, all of this makes the lives of thousands of people destroyed on daily bases.

Reçu via Inicijativa dobrodosli, mail du 17.12.2019.

Entre la #Suisse et l’#Italie :
Accord entre la Confédération suisse et la République italienne relatif à la réadmission des personnes en situation irrégulière
►https://www.admin.ch/opc/fr/classified-compilation/20022507/index.html
v. aussi : ►https://asile.ch/2016/09/16/decryptage-frontieres-migrants-refugies-usage-termes-chiffres

–—

voir aussi le rapport ASGI :
▻https://medea.asgi.it/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Report-Riammissioni-Chiasso_ASGI_31.8.16_def.pdf
signalé ici :
►https://seenthis.net/messages/892443

Entre la #France et l’#Italie :
►https://seenthis.net/messages/730361

Il s’agit de l’#accord_de_Chambéry. Décret n° 2000-923 du 18 septembre 2000 portant publication de l’accord entre le Gouvernement de la République française et le Gouvernement de la République italienne relatif à la #coopération_transfrontalière en matière policière et douanière, signé à Chambéry le 3 octobre #1997
▻https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000766303

voir aussi le rapport ASGI :
▻https://medea.asgi.it/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/all-4-scheda-DM-5-agosto_def.pdf
signalé ici :
►https://seenthis.net/messages/892443