(english bellow)
Situacija v Bosni in Hercegovini je katastrofalna – ljudje so na robu smrti. 23.12 je zgorelo begunsko taborišče Lipa v okoli Bihaća – šotorišče, ki naj bi bilo zaradi pomanjkanja ustrezne infrastrukture in bližajoče se zime zgolj začasno bivališče in naj bi se konec decembra zaprlo. Več kot 1400 beguncev je ostalo brez strehe nad glavo: skoraj teden dni so životarili v snegu, vetru in temperaturah pod 0. Večina ni imela nobene tople obleke ali obutve, nekateri so cel teden nosili zgolj sandale brez nogavic. Dobili so en skromen obrok na dan, spali pod ostanki požganega šotorišča, kjer zaradi snega obstaja velika nevarnost zrušenja, večina jih zaradi mraza ni mogla spati. Mnogi so podhlajeni, veliko je ozeblin, pred nekaj dnevi so morali zaradi podhladitve enega fanta tudi oživljati. Številne lokalne in mednarodne organizacije so lokalne, nacionalne in evropske oblasti že večkrat pozvale k premestitvi beguncev na varno, pa vendar politične institucije s prelaganjem odgovornosti z ustrezno rešitvijo odlašajo. 29. 12 so z avtobusi sicer pričeli odvažati begunce iz taborišča Lipa, vendar pa so zaradi nejasnosti nove lokacije morali noč preživeti kar na avtobusu. Organizacije opozarjajo, da nevarnost grozi še dodatnim 2000 beguncem, ki so bili prisiljeni, da so se zatekli v zapuščene stavbe ali okoliške gozdove.
Mnogo izmed navedenih situacij bi se lahko rešilo, če bi se slovenske in evropske oblasti držale preprostega načela: humanitarno krizo na Balkanu je potrebno reševati s humanitarnimi ukrepi, ne z represijo. Policijski sindikat sam priznava, da na meji v resnici opravlja sizifovo delo, saj ljudje iz taborišč prihajajo ne glede na število vrnitev. Policija rešitve sicer išče v zaostritvi zakona o mednarodni zaščiti, a bi svoje delo najbolj poenostavili s priznanjem, da je situaciji na Hrvaškem in v BiH dosegla kritično točko in je iluzorno razmišljati, da bodo z vse okrutnejšim vračanjem prosilcev v te razmere njihovo število kaj manjše. Slovenske oblasti sicer rade poudarjajo, da si morajo evropske države deliti breme reševanja begunske krize, a sama na tem področju počne izjemno malo: smo na repu držav v EU po podelitvi statusov mednarodne zaščite, in tudi po številu prosilcev močno zaostajamo celo za Madžarsko. V primeru begunskih ladij, ki se potapljajo v Mediteranu, evropske države redno prevzemajo odgovornost za sprejem. Slovenija pa ima v neposredni bližini meja prav takšno potapljajočo se ladjo – to so begunska taborišča na balkanski poti – a za njihovo reševanje ne počne ničesar.
Zato predlagamo sledeče ukrepe v smeri reševanja krize:
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Policija mora nemudoma prenehati s protizakonitimi množičnimi vračanji na Hrvaško in začeti v skladu z mednarodno zakonodajo individualno obravnavati osebe, ki zaprosijo za azil.
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Slovenija naj iz taborišč v BiH nemudoma sprejme 1000 prosilcev za azil, za katere ima vse potrebne kapacitete. Ti prosilci se bodo tako ali drugače v naslednjih mesecih znašli na naših mejah, kot kažejo izkušnje, bo policija mnoge izmed njih obravnavala tudi po desetkrat ali več. Neposreden sprejem pa bi odrezal tako nasilno vlogo hrvaških policistov kot tudi vlogo tihotapcev, poenostavil administrativne postopke in razbremenil policijo.
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Slovenija naj prevzame aktivno vlogo pri opozarjanju evropskih institucij in pritiska na države članice, naj s podobnimi programi pospešene relokacije naslovijo humanitarno krizo v Bosni in Hercegovini.
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Prebivalcem ob meji je potrebno vrniti okolje v normalno stanje, odstraniti ograje in sprejemati prosilce za azil v azilne postopke na policijskih postajah na mejnih prehodih, namesto da se jih preusmerja v notranjost države po gozdovih.
Delovna skupina za azil in Delavska svetovalnica
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(eng)
The situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina is catastrophic – people are on the verge of dying. On the 23rd December, the refugee camp Lipa near Bihać – a tent camp, which was supposed to be only a temporary shelter due to the lack of adequate infrastructure and the approaching winter, and which was to be closed at the end of December – was burned down. More than 1,400 refugees were left without shelter: for almost a week, they were left to sleep in the snow, wind and temperatures below zero. Most had no warm clothes or shoes, some only had open sandals without socks. They received one modest meal per day; they slept under the remains of a burnt camp with the danger of structures collapsing due to the snow. Many are hypothermic, there is a lot of frostbite, and several days ago, they had to revive one boy due to hypothermia. Many local and international organizations have repeatedly called on local, national and European authorities to relocate refugees to safety; however, political institutions are transferring responsibilities from one to another, thus delaying with an appropriate solution. On the 29th December, buses arrived to the camp to take migrants to another location, but due to the ambiguity of the new location, they had to spend the night on the bus. Humanitarian organizations warn that due to the approaching winter almost 2,000 refugees are in a dangerous situation, as they had to take refuge in abandoned buildings or forests.
Such situations could have been avoided if the Slovenian and European authorities adhered to a simple principle: that humanitarian crisis in the Balkans must be resolved through humanitarian measures, not through repression. The Slovenian police union itself admitted that it is in fact doing Sisyphus work at the border: people come from the camps regardless of the number of their returns. The police are looking for a solution in tightening the law on international protection, but they would simplify their work by acknowledging that the situation in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina has reached a critical point and it is illusory to think that their number will be reduced by increasing return of applicants for international protection. The Slovenian authorities like to emphasize that European countries must share the burden of the refugee crisis, but they are doing very little in this area: Slovenia is at the tail of the EU in the number of granted international protection, and even far behind Hungary in terms of the number of applicants. In the case of refugee ships sinking in the Mediterranean, European countries regularly take responsibility for reception. Slovenia has such a sinking ship in the immediate vicinity of its borders – the refugee camps on the Balkan route – yet it is not doing anything to save it.
We therefore call the Slovenian authorities to take the following measures:
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The police must immediately stop with illegal chain returns to Croatia and begin to treat asylum seekers individually and in accordance with international law.
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Slovenia should immediately receive 1000 asylum seekers from camps in Bosnia and Herzegovina, for which it has all the necessary capacities. As experience shows, in one way or another, these people will find themselves at our borders in the coming months, and the police will have to deal with many of them several times. Relocation would cut off both the violent role of Croatian police and the role of smugglers; it would simplify administrative procedures and relieve the work of the police.
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Slovenia should take an active role in alerting European institutions and putting pressure on Member States to address the humanitarian crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina with similar accelerated relocation programs.
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The life at the Slovenian – Croatian border should be returned back to normal; the authorities need to remove the fence and asylum seekers should be able to start asylum procedures at police stations at border crossings, instead of redirecting them to the interior of the country through the forests.
Delovna skupina za azil and Delavska svetovalnica