A temporary accommodation centre for illegal migrants will be set up in the town of Velika Kladusa in northwest Bosnia and Herzegovina, despite opposition from local authorities, Bosnian authorities decided on Thursday.

The centre will be located at an abandoned factory plant of the defunct Agrokomerc agriculture company, the Council of Ministers’ operations headquarters in charge of irregular migration said in a press release.

Negotiations on the location had lasted for months, as the municipality refused to give its consent to migrants being accommodated in Velika Kladusa. European Union also had reservations about the plan, due to the town’s close proximity to the Croatian border, and fears that this would encourage migrants to try and reach EU territory.

The EU has donated €6 million to Bosnian authorities to help them deal with the influx of migrants, but the Thursday’s press release did not say if some of the money would be used for the centre in Velika Kladusa or if state authorities would finance it.

The Council of Ministers also announced that a student dormitory in Bihac which is already used to house migrants would be renovated, and that abandoned military barracks outside Sarajevo would be equipped to accommodate several hundred migrants.

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