“The reality in Lipa is very bad. There is no roof over our head, there is no end to this. The system here is not reliable. There are too many problems.”
Bihac, Bosnia and Herzegovina – A refugee crisis is brewing in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina, where hundreds of people are struggling in freezing weather conditions, with little access to safe shelter, basic medicine, heating or electricity.
At the snow-covered plateau in Lipa village, which is near Bihac, a town on the country’s border with Croatia, temperatures are at best zero and at worst minus eight degrees Celsius (17 degrees Fahrenheit).
Fatigued, in pain, and suffering from the protracted exposure to the cold, refugees move slowly across the area. They are wrapped head to toe in blankets. Hundreds are suffering from respiratory infections.
On December 23, a fire gutted the main camp in Lipa. Tents have since been erected by the Bosnian military, but provide limited comfort from the harsh weather conditions.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 900 people live in the area, including some who have settled in surrounding forests.