BLINDSPOT
Von: Guantanamo | 2. April 2024, 12:59
The events of recent years show that refugees have become the pawns and victims of an inhumane and dehumanising asylum policy. On 23 December, the humanitarian crisis on the so-called Balkan route culminated in the flames of the IOM Lipa camp in Bosnia and Herzegovina, hidden in a forest landscape about 25 kilometres from Bihać. The BiH Ministry of Security attempted to relocate the refugees from Lipa to army barracks, but the move was cancelled following protests by the local community. Approximately 900 refugees remained on the site of the former Lipa camp, without access to basic services and adequate shelter. In January 2021, the BiH army began erecting new tents on a new site adjacent to the old Lipa camp. The picture shows a food distribution organised by the Austrian NGO SOS Balkanroute and the local Red Cross in January 2021.
In March 2023, SOS Balkanroute revealed that an illegal detention centre for refugees had been built in the Lipa camp by the Vienna-based International Center for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), an organisation that organises and funds human rights abuses along the EU's external border, away from public scrutiny & transparency obligations. The detention centre had neither the necessary planning permission nor a legal basis for its operation. ICMPD sued the NGO for alleged damage to its reputation. The lawsuit in Vienna concerned the name „Guantanamo“ for a detention center built by the ICMPD in the Lipa refugee camp. The NGOs lawyer, Maria Windhager, called the case a "SLAPP" (strategic lawsuit against the public). The head of the ICMPD, Michael Spindelegger (former Vice-Chancellor of Austria, ÖVP), defended the facility as a closed institution to protect other residents from suspected dangerous individuals. 44 NGOs and associations from Caritas, Diakonie, Volkshilfe to Amnesty International signed an open letter to the government. SOS Balkanroute won the case against the ICMPD and the judgement is final and binding. The evidence provided by SOS Balkanroute led to the closure of the illegal prison.
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