Bosnian border-town mayors demand government help migrants

Author: Agencies

Mayors and councillors from Bosnian border towns staged a rare protest in the capital on Thursday, demanding the government do more to help them handle thousands of migrants camped out near their towns and cities.

About 50 local politicians from communities along the northwest frontier gathered in central Sarajevo waving banners marked with messages including: “Humanity for migrants and safety for citizens”.

Many said they wanted to help the refugees but did not have the resources to assist roughly 5,000 people currently trying to cross the frontier into Croatia and head to still wealthier nations further north.

Many are staying in improvised shelters, tents and dilapidated buildings, or sleeping rough in graveyards, without running water and toilets. “We can no longer cope with this problem,” Suhret Fazlic, mayor of the city of Bihac, said. “We are afraid the number of migrants could reach 13,000 by autumn and this could turn difficult to handle”.

“Our problem is not the migrants but the fact that we feel we are dealing with it alone and that the state does not function,” he added. “These people are desperate and by the winter, they will be in agony.”

The large numbers of migrants who came into Europe in 2015 largely bypassed Bosnia.

Published in Daily Times, July 27^th 2018.