Refugees in Velika Kladuša: one year later
“Foreigners with no documents are not allowed to enter” — a sign says on the doors of a coffee shop near the migrant center Miral, in the Polje community, the suburban area of Velika Kladuša. Similar signs are placed on most markets, gas stations, bakeries and other establishments in this informal business and industry zone. Near the camp you can find the facilities of the former business giant Agrokomerc, three supermarkets, and dozens of various sales and service shops. “There has been too many problems”, one of the workers respond to the question why the signs were put up.
The Miral facility, recently a factory for production of doors and windows, is now a home for nearly 900 migrants. Among them many are single men, but also several families, as well as over 60 unaccompanied minors. The International Organization for Migration (IOM), which manages this temporary camp, has made an arrangement with the government of the Una-Sana Canton, that “Miral will hold a maximum of 700 individuals. “But, we have found ourselves in an unfortunate situation when people just kept coming and coming. It was a situation in which the outdoor temperatures were below zero and the snow was falling, and we simply could not leave those people in front of the camp”, says Vladimir Mitkovski, IOM coordinator for the Una-Sana Canton.
Capacities are also stretched in other migrant centers on the territory of this Canton, where there is currently nearly four thousands of refugees. The cantonal authorities have set the limit to 3200 refugees, as the maximum number which the Canton can “handle”. Nonetheless, all migrants who enter BiH aim to come to Bihać or Velika Kladuša, from which Slovenia and Italy are closest, once they cross over to Croatia. They cannot be stopped in their attempts, not even by a decision of cantonal authorities — a decision which was not approved by the Ministry of Security — to stop buses and trains on the borders of the Canton and remove migrants in an attempt to stop them from coming to Bihać and Velika Kladuša. This, as it appears, an illegal measure has been enforced since the end of October 2018. Nonetheless, migrants still manage to find new routes and ways to reach Bihać and Velika Kladuša.
Adil from Pakistan and Hasan from Palestine, were the first ones we spoke with upon entering Miral, who told us that they came here after the cantonal authorities began enforcing this entry restriction for migrants. Despite the measures of the cantonal police, arrivals and departures of individuals continue to be an everyday occurrence, which was confirmed by IOM staff in the camp.
Adil and Hasan say that they are satisfied with the conditions in the Miral camp; however, there are also those who express grievances about the food and accommodation. What is clearly evident is that the Miral center is overcrowded. One can barely pass between two beds. The IOM coordinator assures us that they are trying to improve the conditions on a daily basis: within the facilities walls are being built to ensure more privacy for the migrants, while new containers are placed outside — one type for showers and toilets, and another to accommodate up to six individuals.
The conditions in Miral are incomparably better than the ones in the improvised tent camp Trnovo, where the municipal government placed refugees in May last year, after relocating them from the town center. This settlement was dismantled at the end of the year, but only when there was an imminent danger that people will freeze in the field. It was then that the refugees from Trnovo were moved to Miral, which was opened several weeks earlier and was already holding around 150 migrants, who were protesting on the border crossing end of October.
However, not even the new camp is perfect. It is warm, there are more showers and toilets, but the migrants we spoke with shared complaints about the violence within the camp itself. The IOM coordinator for this Canton does not shy away from the problems in Miral. “Yes, we have a problem. There are thirty to fifty people here, who are addicted to drugs, and who also exhibit troublemaking and deviant behavior. We have submitted a list to the cantonal authorities, which should, in coordination with the Service for Foreigners’ Affairs, transfer these individuals into one of the center managed by the state”, points out Mitkovski. During this week a release was issued by the state Ministry, that those individuals prone to criminal offenses will be transferred to the immigrant center near Sarajevo.
There are also problems in relations with the local community. Residents of Polje, as well as the town area of Velika Kladuša, are expressing grievances that migrants are breaking into their houses and shops. Social media are overflowing with xenophobic comments of the local population. Official sources have confirmed to us that the entire cantonal territory is overseen by only 30 additional officers, in comparison to the beginning of 2018, while unofficial sources say that the number of police officers in Velika Kladuša was in fact decreased. It would seem that the authorities, even from a security standpoint, failed to respond adequately to the challenges of the migrant crisis.
The municipal government of Velika Kladuša abolished itself from any responsibility for the current situation, even last year, when they unanimously adopted the conclusion that they do not want migrant centers on the territory of the Municipality. Today they promptly show and wave with these conclusions while demanding the closure of the migrant center Miral, because, as they say, the center is illegal. “The camp was opened with the approval of the Ministry of Security”, Mitkovski points out, and also adds: “Ok, we don’t want the camp, that is that, but it would be good that some kind of a solution is offered, what to do with all these people here? So, IOM does not decide where the camp will be. The state should decide.”
As it was confirmed from the Ministry of Security, soon the state should take control over migrant reception center in the Una-Sana Canton. “But even when that happens, I do not believe anything will be different. Do you think something will be different if instead of IOM we take charge”, points out Dragan Mektić, Minister of Security of BiH.
The one thing that will for sure be the same is that, come Spring, the refugees will still have the same goal of reaching the European Union. The easiest route is through the Una-Sana Canton, as this route has proven to be remarkably successful for them: last year, around four fifths of migrants who entered BiH managed to reach Europe. Camps or no camps, they will continue to come mostly to Bihać and Velika Kladuša, from where they have the shortest passage to Slovenia.
At first sight, Velika Kladuša — a community whose citizens began helping refugees in February last year, giving them a roof over their head, food, clothes and other support — has, one year later, transformed into a place where discrimination and segregation, even hatred towards migrants, is visible on almost every corner. However, things are not so black and white, as it would seem at first sight. Under the surface there is a series of objective reasons which make life harder to both refugees/migrants and the local residents, resulting in tensions between them. The beginning and end of this story is the lack of adequate and timely reaction of competent institutions on all administrative levels. Instead of tackling the problem, the competent authorities in BiH have been evading the issue and shifting responsibility between each other. In this game human rights, security and the lives of refugees, as well as of the local residents, are merely collateral damage.
Author: Amir Purić