First Snow in Bosnia Hits Migrants in Tent Shelter Hard

Alba Domínguez Pena, from No Name Kitchen, an NGO helping refugees, said some 40 to 60 people live in this tent shelter, which they call "Bangladeshi jungle", as it is "a squat made mostly of Bangladeshi people.

"There used to be 100 or more but they are all trying to leave now because they cannot handle this cold weather … They are living in a tent, sleeping on the ground, the situation is even worse than in abandoned factories," Domínguez Pena told BIRN.

She said that many migrants are trying to get accommodation in camps but are often refused, as the camps are overcrowded.

The northwest part of Bosnia has become a growing hub for migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Asia and Africa trying to cross the nearby border into European Union-member Croatia and beyond.

For almost three years, NGOs assisting migrants and refugees, including NNK, have been reporting that police in the EU external border state of Croatia have systematically used violence to push migrants and refugees back to non-EU Bosnia and Serbia. Croatia denies allegations of violence and police misconduct.

With snow, the situation is even more difficult, Domínguez Pena says, because police can track their footprints in the snow.

Migrants in tents covered with snow, northwest Bosnia and Herzegovina. Photo: No Name Kitchen/Alba Domínguez Pena.

Photo: No Name Kitchen/Alba Domínguez Pena.

Photo: No Name Kitchen/Alba Domínguez Pena.

Photo: No Name Kitchen/Alba Domínguez Pena.

Photo: No Name Kitchen/Alba Domínguez Pena.

Photo: No Name Kitchen/Alba Domínguez Pena.

Photo: No Name Kitchen/Alba Domínguez Pena.