Students on the streets during the pandemic thanks to the BiH FBiH Crisis Staff!

(Patria) - As is already known to the public, yesterday the BiH FBiH Crisis Staff issued an order for students from the Sarajevo Student Dormitory Bjelave to vacate, and for citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina arriving from Rome to be accommodated in that dormitory.

There would be nothing controversial about this order if it had been implemented in a timely manner and if alternative accommodation had been provided to the students from this dormitory beforehand. However, as reported by the media, the Management of the Public Institution Student Center Sarajevo informed students about the decision of the Crisis Staff on its Facebook page the day before, which was made on the same day, that the mentioned dormitory would be converted into an isolation facility.

On one hand, crisis staffs across Bosnia and Herzegovina are appealing that self-isolation is the only solution to reduce the pandemic in these conditions, and on the other hand, the BiH FBiH Crisis Staff is making decisions about relocating students, which causes mass social contact, increased risk of infection, and forces students to inevitably disregard preventive self-isolation measures.

The Forum of Youth of the Social Democratic Party of BiH hereby appeals to the members of the BiH FBiH Crisis Staff, as well as the members of other Crisis Staffs, not to make hasty decisions similar to this one, which, in an already unbridled situation of pandemic spread, will cause greater harm and thus, in this case, endanger the health of both citizens and students.

Information has also been reported in the media that the Student Dormitory in Nedžarići has been empty since March 16, 2020, and that the period of the SARS-COVID-19 virus pandemic will be used for painting the dormitory. Accordingly, we consider this decision of the Crisis Staff to be completely senseless, and that it would have been a much better option to provide accommodation for foreign citizens in other empty spaces, of which, as we can see, there are many. Despite numerous empty alternative accommodations, evicting students proves to be a bad measure. In the difficult times ahead, it is most important to show solidarity, not only towards the most at-risk groups but towards all responsible citizens of our country, and especially towards students and young people on whom our future depends.