Ružnić wrote to Nešić, Konaković and Laketa: Have you assessed whether terrorist attacks could occur in Krajina?

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Premier of Una-Sana Canton (USK) Mustafa Ružnić sent an open letter to BiH Security Minister Nenad Nešić, Foreign Minister Elmedin Konaković and Director of the Service for Foreigners' Affairs Žarko Laketa, regarding the latest migrant wave that has hit this part of BiH.

Read Prime Minister Ružnić's letter in the text below.

"Dear gentlemen Nešić, Konaković and Laketa,

These days, the people of Krajina are facing an increased number of migrants arriving daily in the USK area, and according to media information, a large number of them are being returned to BiH from the territory of the Republic of Croatia, allegedly based on an interstate readmission agreement.

About this process, which in recent days has resulted in the arrival of several hundred migrants in Krajina, we have not heard a single word from the BiH Security Minister, nor the BiH Foreign Minister, nor the Director of the Service for Foreigners' Affairs, which we consider irresponsible behavior by the leaders of institutions responsible for migration and migrant issues.

It is particularly concerning that there are indications that among the newly arrived migrants in the USK area, there is an unknown number of those who could pose a potential security challenge.

This is supported by data that in the Temporary Reception Center in Lipa, with your apparent consent and in secrecy from us, a Detention Center was opened, which is a kind of detention unit where, according to our information that you have withheld from us, migrants who are prohibited from moving and are under surveillance are placed.

All this indicates what category and structure of migrants are being brought to USK from the west.

Have you conducted an assessment of what kind of attacks the citizens of this part of BiH can expect and whether, given the new circumstances, terrorist attacks could occur?

We are aware that recently the most dangerous groups of migrants so far are 'flowing' into USK, and if until now we attributed the influx of migrants to the negligence and lack of care of state institutions, now we can say that state institutions are sending them to this part of BiH in an organized and targeted manner.

We warn you that the situation is serious and critical, and in just a few days it could escalate.

Dear gentlemen, it is your obligation and duty to inform us, who are part of the executive and legislative authorities in USK, of all details of the implementation of the Readmission Agreement with Croatia, as well as the information you have about migrants who are under movement restriction measures, and the reasons for imposing those measures.

Also, you are obliged to inform us whether you are implementing readmission agreements with Serbia and Montenegro, because the migrants being massively returned from Croatia do not originate from USK, so that you exclusively place them in the Lipa Center, which does not have the capacity for the already large influx of people, so more and more migrants are on the streets of Bihać.

Therefore, on behalf of the USK Government, I urgently demand prompt resolution of this problem and we will not accept anything less than an equal distribution of migrants from the Readmission Agreement across the entire territory of BiH!

Because, the fact that the Service for Foreigners' Affairs last year fully took over control of the Lipa Reception Center did not contribute to solving the migrant problem, which is again mostly borne by the city of Bihać, which has not yet fully recovered from the consequences of the migrant wave from previous years, and we cannot again be the only victims of increased migration, nor will we agree to that.

With our intention to fully comply with domestic legislation on migrants and migration, as well as respecting the international legal framework relating to this population and their rights, we cannot realize that intention without the help of state institutions in whose jurisdiction the resolution of this problem lies.

Therefore, I once again call on you to take our appeals seriously, especially to consider them from a security aspect, but also from the aspect of development and numerous projects that the new migrant crisis threatens to halt.

Gentlemen, it is your competence and obligation to do your well-paid job, and not through your inaction contribute to the security risk in this part of BiH and, on the threshold of the tourist season in this area, which according to tourism workers' announcements was promising, but is now already questionable, again direct us through such an attitude towards this problem to solve it ourselves.

It is high time you understood the seriousness of the situation and, instead of giving populist and pompous statements from your comfortable armchairs and holding futile and useless meetings, you actually take on your obligations and concrete work.

We have nothing from your 'coddling' in Facebook statuses and supposed empathy for Krajina; we expect concrete and clear steps that will lead to solving the migrant problem in this part of BiH.

If you think you are punishing the people of Krajina in this way, because we are not afraid to say what we think and are not blind followers of anyone's so-called elites, we tell you that you will not succeed in that intention, because we will fight with all democratic means to enable the local citizens a peaceful and normal life, which they deserve.

We repeat, we will not agree to your supposed solution, which seems aimed at returning all migrants from Croatia only to the USK area, while also 'channeling' those from Serbia and Montenegro planfully to USK, where their stay is the only 'guaranteed'.

We are used to such scenarios, but we will certainly no longer tolerate them.

The citizens of this part of BiH now know very well for whom migrants were a source of easy money, and for whom they robbed houses and destroyed property. We know perfectly well who dealt with this problem and who gave us 'support'.

You have the tools, you have the obligation, you have the duty to solve it! It remains to be seen whether you still have the decency to stand before the people of Krajina without taking a single concrete step to lift this burden off their backs", wrote Ružnić.