In the article “Deportation prison in front of the EU external border?” , Tageschau covered the situation in Bosnia where a refugee camp is being transformed into a prison.
The Lipa refugee camp in Bosnia is being transformed into an internment camp, with the European Union providing the funding and overseeing the construction. There are concerns among NGOs that it will ultimately become a deportation prison located at the EU’s external border. The camp is located in a remote area and has high fences and privacy screens. Despite its purpose being unclear, the EU Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Johann Sattler, claims that the tract is intended to protect people in Lipa from “troublemakers.” However, there have been few conflicts or violence in Lipa. The legal basis for the detention center is unclear, and the refugees and migrants are allowed to stay for a maximum of 72 hours. Many asylum seekers end up in the camp after failing to reach neighboring Croatia and the EU. Despite attempts to visit the camp, journalists have been denied access, and even politicians such as Austrian Green Party delegate Ewa Ernst-Dziedzic were not allowed to see the cells.
The EU Commission funded the construction of the internment camp with €500,000, and the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) in Vienna managed the project. The ICMPD is a research organization on migration-related issues and is expected to provide recommendations to its sponsors. The center is led by Michael Spindelegger, a former Vice Chancellor of Austria and member of the conservative Austrian People’s Party.
In 2018, the Austrian government, led by the same party whose member is also Johann Sattler, made headlines when the Interior Minister stated their intention to concentrate migrants in camps, using language reminiscent of the Nazis. It’s worth noting that the term “concentration camps” was used by the Nazis. This occured in the same year that Manfred Weber, a member of the CSU party (to which Christian Schmidt also belongs), made a statement regarding Europe’s search for a “final solution” to the migrant crisis, the use of this term again evoked memories of the Nazi era.
Initially, the ICMPD denied its involvement in the construction of cells, but later acknowledged it was a “detention area.” The ICMPD coordinated with the Bosnian Ministry of Security, but no one in the Una Sana Canton where the camp is located has approved the construction.
The intention of the internment camp in Lipa remains shrouded in mystery. While the EU Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Johann Sattler, claimed during a visit to the site that the facility was built to shield the camp residents from “troublemakers,” both the camp management and the International Organization for Migration assert that conflicts or violence are rare in Lipa.
Various non-governmental organizations have long voiced their concerns that the EU might set up deportation prisons outside its borders, where migrants and refugees could be returned to their countries of origin before they have a chance to apply for asylum or other forms of protection within the EU.
These suspicions are fueled further by the visit of Hungarian EU Enlargement Commissioner, Olivér Várhelyi, to Bosnia and Herzegovina in November last year. Várhelyi announced an EU pilot program in Lipa, referring to the need to detain “inadmissible asylum seekers” until their return to their home countries.
According to Petar Rosandic from the aid organization “SOS Balkanroute,” there may be a deal in place between the EU and Bosnia and Herzegovina regarding the Lipa camp. Rosandic believes that in exchange for becoming a deportation zone for the EU, the country could receive accession aid and faster negotiations for EU membership. This suspicion comes amid Bosnia and Herzegovina’s status as an EU candidate.
When approached for comment, the EU Delegation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the office of EU Enlargement Commissioner Várhelyi stated that an effective and humane return policy is necessary for those who are not eligible for international protection. However, under international law, every person is entitled to a fair and individual examination of their asylum application.
In the region surrounding Lipa, asylum seekers are not always given the right to an individual examination of their asylum application, as neighboring Croatia has been documented to push them back to Bosnia and Herzegovina without due process and with the use of force.
Moreover, the 72-hour maximum stay in the new detention center in Lipa, according to the European Commission, does not allow for adequate time to complete the final examination of an asylum application. The legal basis for both the detention center and the time frame is unclear.
The European Commission has stated that the Foreigners’ Office in Sarajevo is responsible for the construction of the detention center, but Mirsad Buzar, the Deputy Director of the Office, has acknowledged in an interview with ARD that there is currently no legal basis for the operation of the center.
As Bosnia and Herzegovina aspires to join the EU, the bloc has provided funding to support the country’s preparations. However, instead of being used for that purpose, some of the funds are being utilized by the EU to construct a detention center in the Lipa refugee camp, in partnership with an Austrian organization, without any clear legal basis. This detention center is intended to house refugees and migrants, further complicating the situation for those seeking asylum in the EU.
