Sarajevo urged to improve assistance to migrants

Council of Europe (CoE) Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic has urged authorities in Bosnia (BiH) to improve their handling of migrants' arrivals.

The CoE announced that Mijatovic, who on Tuesday published a letter addressed to BiH ministers for human rights and refugees and for security, was "concerned by the lack of a systematic response to the situation of refugees and migrants who sleep rough on the streets and in the parks with irregular access to food and health assistance."

Mijatovic therefore "urges the authorities to provide adequate accommodation by using all available refugee reception centers and to make sure that all asylum-seekers and migrants receive adequate food, health-care and administrative assistance."

The CoE official "recognizes that the situation with migration might presents social and economic challenges for Bosnia-Herzegovina but at the same she underscores the country's obligation to ensure assistance and access to fair and effective asylum procedures and a need to address it in a human rights compliant way," the organization said.

In her letter, Mijatovic also requested information on the safeguards that the authorities intend to put in place in this regard.