european lawmakers are set to discuss
the fate of migrants
stranded along the eu's external borders
today
the situation is especially acute in
bosnia where
thousands of mostly middle eastern
migrants remain in limbo
bossier is not an eu member but it
borders croatia
which is in the union human rights
groups say migrants have frequently
reported rough encounters with croatian
police
including beatings and being forcefully
sent back into bosnia
croatian authorities deny the
allegations currently there are nearly 9
000 migrants estimated to be in bosnia
many are from afghanistan pakistan or
syria the un's migration agency says
more than a third are living without any
shelter at all
many were left homeless when a camp in
lieber was evacuated in december
after bosnian authorities failed to
prepare the camp for winter
the empty camp was later set on fire the
bosnian army has set up new tents but
ngos
say more permanent shelter is sorely
needed marina strauss reports
for the past three months this makeshift
camp near bosnia's border with croatia
has been home for rahil suffer the young
pakistani shares a shelter in the woods
with five others it's my sleeping bag
this potato chili
water everything there but you know
onion
this is my food they have enough to eat
saffron says
but other than that they have
practically nothing
all this time of year temperatures often
drop well below zero
suffer has to collect wood from the
forest to keep them warm
there's only one reason the men enter
these conditions
they want to get to croatia and into the
european union
try it maybe 10 15 time i'll go but
police catch
they beat why you come in the crochet
why are you cause across water
you are illegal you don't have documents
why you coming across the border
that's why too much try but inshallah
one day successfully
no problem zafur wants to find work in
germany
in his hometown of karachi pakistan he
says he had to struggle
day in day out just to make ends meet
and while living in the woods is hard he
says it's still better than life in
lieber
the lipa refugee camp made headlines in
recent weeks
first it was cleared and then burnt down
the migrants and refugees have now been
moved into tents
but many here say nobody should live
like this in winter
it's pictures like these that have
attracted unwanted attention to how
bosnian authorities
have handled the situation but the
region's prime minister says
the eu and the bosnian government share
the blame
there are solutions for the migration
situation in bosnia
the highest officials in this country
need to show political will to stop and
regulate
illegal migration into the country and
to control how the money is spent
of all the people we spoke to here none
want to stay in bosnia
but rather to continue their journey
into the eu
for many the chances of being granted
asylum in the eu
are slim but it doesn't deter suffer who
says
going back to pakistan is not an option
europe have everything they give camp is
good
every food is good cloth is good
everything we work there no problem
that's why we want to go there you know
as soon as it gets a bit warmer rahi
sufferer will try to cross the border
again
but for now he has no choice but to wait
here
alive in mud rain and severe cold
dw's marina strauss who filed that
report joins us now from brussels
marine eu lawmakers due to meet to
discuss this issue today what have they
been saying about the situation there
well they're just starting the
discussion right now but we know what
you commissioned your executive body has
said about the situation also eu member
member states they have repeatedly been
saying
this is an unacceptable situation this
is a humanitarian crisis
that has to be solved immediately and
they're putting the blame on the bosnian
government saying they really have to do
something to improve the situation
the thing is there actually is a refugee
shelter in the nearby town of bihac
that has been closed down just a couple
of months ago it's not a luxury facility
it's like an old company but still it's
better than what we're seeing
in lipa camp and it was founded by the
eu but there are many people protesting
in front of this shelter we went there
and talked to these people and they say
they had problems
with migrants in the past and that's why
they don't want to
this facility to be reopened um
so that's why local authorities are
refusing to
reopen this shelter so things are a lot
more complicated than what they seem at
first sight
and you've of course just returned from
bosnia and spoken to a lot of the
migrants there what more can you tell us
about
these allegations of croatian police
brutally sending migrants back to
the bosnian border
well all migrants and all refugees
we talked to have repeated like
completed these allegations so not only
them also the local authorities
said this is happening for example
raheel safar the young pakistani man we
saw in the report he said
he tried 10-15 times to cross the border
and
each time he was beaten up by the police
sometimes they took away
his mobile phone that sometimes his
money sometimes hits close that's what
he told us but he's not
the only way the only one and they have
been there have been
numerous media reports on these issues
ngos have been
collecting photos documenting these
abuses the croatian authorities are
denying
such claims but critics are saying this
is a clear breach of international law
and also of eu regulation because
everyone who arrives at the border of an
eu country
has to be granted the right to at least
apply for asylum
dw correspondent marina strauss thanks
for that