prijava
SARAJEVO, May 15 (FENA) – The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, in an interview with FENA, sent out a message to the BiH authorities that they are responsible for providing accommodation, health services and food to migrants in Bosnia and Herzegovina, regardless of the fact that they face great challenges in terms of social, economic and all other aspects relevant to this process.
Interviewer: Jelena Marković
The motive for this interview was a letter by Commissioner Mijatović sent to the Council of Ministers of BiH in which she wrote about the conditions for the asylum seekers and migrants arriving in BiH.
Mijatović, as she said, addresses the Council of Ministers of BiH, primarily the Minister of Security Dragan Mektić and Minister of Human Rights and Refugees of BiH Semiha Borovac, and stressed that the authorities from the highest to the lowest level should do everything in their power to prevent the situation with migrants in BiH to further escalate.
“What we are seeing in the streets and parks in Sarajevo is not the way the state should address the entry of migrants into the country, not just in the case of BiH, but any other state,” said Mijatović.
She stressed that the issue of migration is a problem faced by all the countries in Europe, not just the EU member states, adding that more solidarity and joint work is needed.
However, she emphasized that we cannot speak about the individual responsibility of any country and on which country bears greater or lesser responsibility.
“Regardless of what is happening, BiH officials must take responsibility for migrants in BiH,” she underlined, adding that the number of migrants in our country is not that vast that something could not be done in that respect.
“Closing of the borders to prevent entry of migrants, as it has been done by some countries in Europe, I find unacceptable,” stressed Mijatović.
“It seems as though no one remembers what it was like some time before and what Europe looked like many years ago. There is a need to show higher sense of responsibility for the people who are fleeing from war and a situation that is not normal for human beings,” said Mijatović.
She added that the BiH citizens are showing much more compassion and that she has heard a lot of stories about them helping refugees and children, but once again, it is now time for the state to react.
“In what way BiH plans to get involved, together with the European Commission and other countries in the region, it is not on me to decide. This is something that should have already happened, instead of still talking about it,” she said.
She pointed to the fact that migrants must be protected and that they should be allowed to seek asylum seekers, as BiH and all the other countries are bound to provide under various international documents such as the European Court of Human Rights and the European Social Charter.
The Commissioner for Human Rights of the CoE also commented on a numerous articles and writings on migrants in BiH media, noting that editors should have much greater responsibility for the way write and report on the issues of refugees and migrants.
“It seems we have forgotten what it means to be a refugee and how it feels. BiH knows better than any other country in Europe, having in mind all that had happened in the 1990s, what it is like to be a refugee and how important it is to help people who are escaping war and troubles,” she said.
She added that of course there can be discussion on whether there are "problematic" ones among the migrants but, in her opinion, it is of enormous importance to show responsibility and give help and to see who needs what kind of protection and whether they need it in the first place.
According to the UNHCR information available to Mijatović, 1,138 refugees and migrants entered BiH so far.
On the other hand, the number of illegal migrants registered in BiH since the beginning of the year is more than 3,000, according to data from the BiH Foreigners’ Affairs Service and the Ministry of Security.
“Regardless of who has the right numbers, this is a problem that needs to be resolved. UNHCR for the most part, especially in relation to migration, always has accurate data,” concluded the Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe.
Mijatović said she is unaware of certain information released in the media saying that BiH is threatened with a new wave of 50,000 to 60,000 migrants expected to enter the country.
(FENA) S. R.
