The European Union (EU) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) have provided food and sleeping bags for hundreds of refugees, including Bangladeshis, who are sheltering in a forest in Bosnia, on Monday.
Hoping to immigrate to Europe, the refugees have taken shelter in Velika Kladusa on the Bosnian-Croatian border, reports Deutsche Welle (DW) Bangla.
Many of them have been living in inhumane conditions there for the last few months. Some of them complained that they had not received any cooperation from any international organization till Sunday.
But on Monday, a team from the UN refugee agency IOM provided humanitarian assistance for them with food and sleeping bags. About 600 people including Bangladeshis have been provided this assistance.
"We have not received such aid before. This is the first time," said Abdul Hannan, a Bangladeshi refugee, as quoted by DW Bangla.
IOM has a shelter camp at Velika Kladusa. However, Bangladeshis who took shelter in the forest and in an abandoned factory nearby have claimed that they are not allowed to enter there.
They have all come to Bosnia from different countries including the Middle East. The purpose is to immigrate to any European country including Italy, France, through Croatia.
But they told DW Bangla that Croatian police had tortured them while crossing the border. They also said that they paid money to the brokers to come to Europe.
As the EU attempts to overhaul its defunct migration policies, thousands of people fleeing Asia, the Middle East, and Africa are stranded on the fringe of the wealthy bloc, trying and often failing to enter and continue their journey, reports Reuters.
