Burned down camp in Bosnia: Merz against admission from slum camps

Saturday, January 02, 2021

Burned down camp in Bosnia
Merz against admission from slum camps

After the fire in a refugee camp in Bosnia, migrants wait in the ice and cold while soldiers set up makeshift tents. There are warning voices from the CDU: Under no circumstances should the people there be brought to Germany, says the candidate for the Union presidency Merz.

CDU chairman Friedrich Merz has spoken out in principle against the admission of refugees from camps in Greece or Bosnia. "Above all, the entire European Union has an obligation to help the refugees in the Balkans or on the Greek islands on the spot," he told the newspapers of the Funke media group. "However, this humanitarian catastrophe cannot be resolved by saying: Everyone comes to Germany. This path is no longer open."

Europe must make agreements with the countries of origin or transit countries in order to prevent illegal and life-threatening migration across the Mediterranean in the countries of origin. "The clear message to the refugees as well as to the smuggling organizations must be: It is life-threatening and it will not be successful," explained Merz.

Union parliamentary group vice-chairman Thorsten Frei also refused to accept migrants from Bosnia. The fatal signal could quickly emanate from this. "The way to Germany is free," he said. "We would create a huge incentive to migrate to Europe." That doesn't make the situation in the Balkans better, but worse. Instead of being accepted, Germany is ready to use all means to help disaster relief locally if Bosnia so wants.

Relocation of permanent accommodation failed

After the failed relocation of hundreds of refugees to permanent accommodation in the interior of the country, the Bosnian army began to erect tents in the Lipa slum camp in the north-west of the country on Friday. The people should now stay in the camp, which had actually been cleared and partially burned down, 25 kilometers south-east of the city of Bihac, reported the news portal "klix.ba".

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) had closed the camp a week and a half ago because the Bosnian authorities had not kept their promises to make it winter-proof. The refugees and migrants should have been taken to a former army barracks near Sarajevo. Protests by local politicians and citizens, however, had prevented the buses with the migrants from even leaving. Previously, some of the migrants, mostly young men, had set tents and containers on fire when the camp was evacuated. Since then, the migrants have stayed outdoors in wintry weather conditions. Aid organizations provide them with makeshift food in the inhospitable area.

The CDU politician Merz also spoke out in favor of more consistent deportations than in previous years. However, until further notice, Germany will not be able to deport to the extent that it is actually necessary. In the case of Syria, for example, there are legal and humanitarian as well as factual obstacles, for example because there are no flight connections and no open land routes. "Deportations to Syria will therefore only be possible in individual cases."

The previous ban on deportation for Syria expired in the old year because the interior ministers of the countries could not agree on it. The SPD ministers wanted to extend it without restriction, the Union ministers no longer wanted to rule out a general deportation of serious criminals. Each case must now be examined individually.