Brussels, January 5 As thousands of refugees in Bosnia and Herzegovina are facing humanitarian crises due to fires in refugee camps, the European Union announced on the 4th that it would provide an additional 3.5 million euros in assistance to Bosnia and Herzegovina to help refugees in deep distress survive the cold winter.
On Christmas Eve on December 23, 2020, the Lipa refugee camp in Una-Sana region, northwest Bosnia and Herzegovina, was closed by the local government because it did not have any cold facilities.
Some disgruntled refugees set fire to the camp completely, resulting in a camp fire that attracted international attention.
According to the announcement issued by the European Commission on January 4, 2021, about 900 refugees are still staying in the destroyed camps, and about 800 refugees are sleeping around the camps, including women and children.
In total, about 1,700 refugees face personal safety and health risks such as frostbite, hypothermia and even the COVID-19 epidemic.
To this end, the EU’s additional 3.5 million euros of assistance is mainly to provide refugees with winter materials, such as winter clothes, blankets, food, etc., and will also provide refugees with medical, mental health counselling, psychosocial support and other assistance to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among refugees.
In the announcement, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Borelli, said that the situation in the Lipa refugee camp is unacceptable.
The assistance provided by the European Union can only solve the “emergency”, and a long-term solution is needed in the future, including rebuilding a permanent house in the ruins of the camp, so as not to leave refugees on the streets in the harsh winter or facing the epidemic.
Go to any medical assistance.
According to the International Organization for Migration, the Lipa refugee camp was built early last year to deal with the overcrowding of other refugee camps in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
By the closure on December 23, the camp was not equipped with water and electricity, nor was it equipped with stoves, insulation materials and other cold protection facilities.
After the camp was burned down, many refugees turned to take refuge in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which worried or further aggravated the refugee problem of Bosnia and Herzegovina by the International Organization for Migration.
In addition to the Lipa refugee camp, a fire broke out in Moria refugee camp, Greece’s largest refugee camp, in September last year, which burned 80% of the camp’s homes to ashe and homeless more than 12,000 refugees.
After that, in addition to providing emergency assistance to Greece, the European Union also promised to assist Greece in rebuilding the refugee camp.
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