ZAGREB, August 17, 2018 – A temporary accommodation centre for irregular migrants will be located in Velika Kladuša, in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) close to the border with Croatia, despite opposition from local authorities, BiH authorities decided on Thursday.
The centre will be located in an abandoned plant of the defunct Agrokomerc company, the Council of Ministers operations headquarters in charge of irregular migration said in a press release.
Negotiations on the location lasted for months as the municipality refused to give its consent to migrants being accommodated in Velika Kladuša. European Union bodies also had reservations due to the vicinity of the Croatian border and fears that this would encourage migrants to try and reach EU territory.
The EU has donated 6 million euro to BiH authorities to deal with migrant crisis but the press release did not say if some of the money would be used for the centre in Velika Kladuša or if the state authorities would finance it.
The Council of Ministers announced for next week the reconstruction of a student dormitory in Bihać where migrants are already staying and the equipping of an abandoned military barracks outside Sarajevo where several hundred migrants will be accommodated.
The operations HQ estimates the migrant pressure on BiH’s eastern border is rising. It said backup sent to the border police was working as a much higher number of migrants were prevented from illegally entering the country than before.
