Migrants to be accommodated in ‘Agrokomerc’ and Hadzici

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Right after The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) entity Government decided that migrants will be accommodated in the ‘Usvik’ barracks in Hadzici and in ‘Agrokomerc’ company facilities in Velika Kladusa (northern Bosnia). A Velika Klidusa official said migrants will not be accommodated there.

Head of the Labour Party Caucus in the Velika Kladusa Municipal Council, Elvira Abdic-Jelenovic, told N1 that Municipal Council’s conclusions stating that they will not allow the accommodation of migrants in ‘Agrokomerc’ company facilities are still in force.

“I know nothing about any meeting. We’ve said everything we had to say about this issue. The Council and Head of the local community said everything earlier. We submitted our conclusions to the competent Bosnian institutions,” she said.

After the FBiH Government session, a press conference was held at which an Austrian Government's donation was presented, Thursday, consisting of 53 tents which can accommodate 288 migrants and refugees.

Johann Bezdeka Head of the Department for Foreigners, Civil Protection and Natural Disasters at the Austrian Ministry of the Interior noted that the donation was prompted by the friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

“Bosnia and Austria have a long-lasting friendship and they both signed memoranda of understanding. During the floods in Bosnia, four years ago, Austria sent supplies and firemen to Bosnia. Now we answered the call to help with the migrants and within 24 hours, we decided to help,” Bezdeka said. “We sent 53 tents which can accommodate 288 persons. Austria is well aware of this problem since we were in the same situation in 2015.”

The FBiH Civil Protection Agency Director Fahrudin Solak said the tents will be placed at locations they are needed the most.

“We’ll place portable showers and toilets in Bihac. Maybe we’ll even place power generators and water tanks. The FBiH Government decided that taxes for the donated tents should not be paid thus contributing to our efforts in dealing with the migrants,” Solak said.

Assistance Security Minister for Migration Murveta Dzaferovic was also present at the press conference and she confirmed that the Ministry received objections from the European Commission saying that migrants should be displaced further away from the border with Croatia.

The Velika Kladusa Municipal Council had unanimously adopted several conclusions, Tuesday, objecting the accommodation of migrants in the area of Velika Kladusa, saying the issue should be resolved by equally distributing migrants to other Bosnian municipalities.