Decision of BiH Presidency and Council of Ministers on maximum migrant quota within camps and in BiH still pending

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Sarajevo Canton Assembly adopted a series of conclusions at its session on January 28, concerning the migrant crisis in Sarajevo Canton, where the largest number of migrants in all of BiH reside.

No one can yet answer the question of who and when allowed more than 3,000 migrants to be accommodated in the temporary reception center Blažuj, which had a capacity of up to 1,500 migrants. The Police Administration of the Ministry of Interior of Sarajevo Canton was neither consulted nor informed about such a large number of migrants, which certainly represents both a humanitarian and a security problem. Just such a security incident occurred only a few days before the thematic session, when a conflict broke out between the police and several hundred migrants who destroyed 24 cars, of which 20 were police vehicles, and two police officers and one IOM employee sustained injuries. To date, it is unknown how much damage was suffered by the Police Administration of the Ministry of Interior of Sarajevo Canton and who will compensate for it.

One of the conclusions adopted by the Sarajevo Canton Assembly is that the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina urgently, and no later than February 28, 2021, adopt a Decision on the total tolerable quota of migrants in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the total tolerable quota of migrants within camps in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Neither the Council of Ministers of BiH nor the Presidency of BiH have yet considered this issue or made decisions.

Given that Sarajevo Canton has neither constitutional nor legal jurisdiction for managing the migrant crisis, BiH institutions were called upon to carry out all activities in managing this crisis. Any possibility of establishing new migrant camps in the territory of Sarajevo Canton was rejected.

One of the conclusions is that the Government of Sarajevo Canton will appoint a special commissioner for migrant issues, who will provide it with information on the current situation and the number of migrants staying in centers in the territory of Sarajevo Canton once a month. It is not known that the Government of Sarajevo Canton has appointed anyone to this position.

The only activity undertaken after these conclusions is the visit of a broad delegation of municipal, cantonal, and state authorities, as well as representatives of IOM and the EU, to the Blažuj camp and a working meeting in the Ilidža Municipality. There was no mention of reducing the number of migrants in Blažuj and Ušivak (Hadžići).

Nor at the meeting of the Minister of Security of BiH, Selmo Cikotić, and the Head of the IOM Mission, Laura Lungarotti, held on February 11, was there any talk of reducing the number of migrants in Blažuj, but rather about improving accommodation conditions.

In its conclusions, the Sarajevo Canton Assembly also requested from the competent state bodies and institutions of BiH to consider, as soon as possible, the relocation of the existing migrant camps "Blažuj" and "Ušivak" to uninhabited places, in accordance with the decision of the Presidency of BiH from 2020, by forming camps directly along the migrant crossing border.

As things stand now, the relocation of these camps will remain only a dead letter.

According to the report of the Police Administration of the Ministry of Interior of Sarajevo Canton for the month of December 2020, 4,326 migrants were staying in reception, asylum, and immigration centers in the territory of Sarajevo Canton.

In the month of December 2020, migrants participated in five events with the characteristics of a criminal offense, namely: possession and enabling the use of narcotic drugs (4 cases), robbery (one case).

After the conflict with the police in the Blažuj center, on January 23, an extensive operation was carried out, and in the searches conducted, 17 persons were found for whom there was information that they were perpetrators of criminal offenses in BiH and neighboring countries. During the searches, items suitable for causing bodily harm were found (wooden bars, metal bars, kitchen knives, screwdrivers, scissors, scalpels), which are linked to the attack on police officers on the night of January 20 to 21.