The Vuckaj migrant camp, just east of the northern Bosnian town of Bihac, has become overcrowded and the situation could soon escalate considering the lack of food for all the camp's residents, Anadolu News Agency warned on Thursday.
“The situation is unchanged. We have many migrants who were brought to the Vucjak camp two days ago. The Red Cross resumed its activities yesterday, handing out two meals a day for 1,700 migrants,” Selam Midzic, secretary of the Red Cross organisation in Bihac said.
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He said that the Red Cross will find the strength to provide meals for migrants by Monday, as their numbers had doubled. In the event that recent announcements by the Mayor of Bihać, Suhret Fazlic, on the withdrawal of Public and Utility Companies of “Vodovod” and “Komrad” from Vucjak become true, the Red Cross will serve migrants with food in quantities that they can provide through donations.
“We expect the Una-Sana Canton Government, the City of Bihac and the State level to help us because we won't be able to provide for migrants from the donations from some organizations and institutions. We will do our best the migrants, however, we cannot provide only 300 meals without the remaining 1,300. That would cause huge problems. Everyone needs to understand the severity of the situation and make decisions that would help us in the field,” said Midzic.
He noted that the number of migrants staying in the camp is changing day by day, as many return to the city and public areas from where they were relocated two days ago.
International organization and humanitarians consider the Vucjak migrant reception centre unconditional. The Red Cross said that the location no longer had the capacity to erect new tents.
The United Nations (UN) in Bosnia and Herzegovina expressed concern about the relocation of migrants and asylum-seekers to the Vucjak area, urging the authorities to urgently find alternative accommodation for migrants.
