Migrants placed in the temporary camp Vucjak have entered into the third day of their hunger strike against the inhumane conditions in the camp, N1's Slavisa Starcevic reported on Thursday.
According to Starcevic, some 600 migrants residing there have refused to take the food brought to them by the local Red Cross organisations.
Migranti na Vucjaku i danas odbijaju hranu Crvenog krsta. @N1infoSA pic.twitter.com/EBVTvFZdIv
— Slavisa Starcevic (@slavisaStar) December 5, 2019
This morning, the air temperature dropped to -5 degrees Celsius in the northern Bosnian city of Bihac, where the camp is located.
The situation became unbearable for the 600 migrants there after the winter started showing its true nature. Some tents caved in under the weight of the snow, while the camp itself was flooded some days earlier. The camp has no running water and no proper drainage system.
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The first snow in Bosnia fell two days ago, and migrants welcomed it in flipflops and without proper clothes. That was when they decided to start the hunger strike.
Jos jedno migrantsko jutro na Vucjaku. Temperatura tokom noci – 5. @N1infoSA pic.twitter.com/0le8yacAJg
— Slavisa Starcevic (@slavisaStar) December 5, 2019
Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Dunja Mijatovic visited the camp on Tuesday where she said she was shocked by the conditions there.
The situation in Vucjak is something completely new for us. I’ve never seen such a thing in my long career and I’ve been to various camps. I’m ashamed that this is happening in my country. This was not something I expected as a Commissioner, or as a person coming from Bosnia. Again, I am ashamed of this,” Mijatovic stressed.
The CoE Human Rights Commissioner called for the closure of camp Vucjak “because people will start dying. Who would be responsible for that then,” Mijatovic asked at the end of her address in this camp.
