A major fire broke out at a temporary migrant camp in Bosnia that has been strongly criticised by rights groups as unsuitable due to its lack of resources, with officials claiming former residents had started the blaze.
Thick black smoke rose from the Lipa tent camp near the Croatian border that once housed 1,200 migrants. Residents were seen running away in panic from the fire but no injuries were immediately reported.
Bosnia has become a bottleneck for thousands of migrants hoping to reach neighbouring European Union member Croatia and then head towards richer EU nations.
Most are stuck in Bosnia’s north-western Krajina region as other areas in the ethnically divided nation have refused to accept them.
Disaster upon disaster in #Lipa #Bihac #BiH - as far as we know now a group of former residents put three tents and containers on fire after most of the migrants had left the camp. Luckily no casualties to our knowledge at this point but disaster nevertheless @UNmigration @UN_BiH pic.twitter.com/Ro7vtUFkcy
Advertisement— Peter Van der Auweraert (@PeterAuweraert) December 23, 2020
The Lipa camp was to be closed on Wednesday and moved to another location, but officials said that since its tents and other facilities were almost entirely destroyed in the fire it cannot immediately be moved to another spot.
“As far as we know now, a group of former residents put three tents and containers on fire after most of the migrants had left the camp,” said the International Organisation for Migration’s chief of mission in Bosnia, Peter Van Der Auweraert.
“Luckily, no casualties to our knowledge at this point but disaster nevertheless,” he said on Twitter.
He later told reporters the fire was under control, but that most of the camp was destroyed or damaged. He said most camp residents were still around the area because “there’s no alternative accommodation available” in Bosnia.
He said some migrants planned to head to Croatia as “quickly as they could”, some were aiming to travel to the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo while others intended to stay in the Bihac area through the winter in squatters’ camps.
Thanks to intervention of local fire brigade fire in #migrant camp Lipa #Bihac #BiH is now under control. Pretty much all infrastructure has been destroyed or damaged. Terrible day. @UNmigration @UN_BiH @IOM_ROVienna pic.twitter.com/fT6lDCMxaB
— Peter Van der Auweraert (@PeterAuweraert) December 23, 2020
Witnesses said the fire appeared to have started in a fuel storage facility and quickly spread to the tents where the migrants lived.
Natasa Omerovic, the camp director, told the Bosnian Klix.ba. news portal that the arson started because the planned closure of the camp had triggered anger among migrants.
“As we see, the tents are being set on fire in a chain action, and I think we are talking about vandalism,” she was quoted as saying. “The migrants are upset and angry, we can hear them cursing the state.”
The Lipa camp was set up as a temporary shelter during the summer to cope with the coronavirus pandemic.
The EU has warned Bosnia that thousands of migrants face a freezing winter without shelter, and it urged the country’s bickering politicians to set aside their differences and take action.
Thousands of people have been sleeping outdoors in makeshift tent camps or abandoned houses with no facilities in the area, which saw the first snow earlier this month.
Many migrants in Bosnia have also alleged violence at the hands of Croatian border police.
