Red Cross, Red Crescent warn of humanitarian crisis at Bosnia's Vucjak migration camp

"The Vucjak camp – which has been termed “The Jungle” by people living there – has no running water, no electricity, no usable toilets, and mouldy, leaking, overcrowded tents," IFRC said in a statement on Thursday.

Some 700 migrants live currently in the camp with their number reaching 2,500 in some days, while the camp has only 80 tents, no medical assistance, and just five volunteers from Bosnia's Red Cross Society to help, the statement said.

The health situation is particularly concerning, with some people left with untreated broken limbs and 70% of the population having scabies.

IFRC’s operations manager for Bosnia, Indira Kulenovic, said in the statement that Vucjak camp should be urgently closed and the people moved to a safe, secure place that meets at least the basic humanitarian standards.

Last week, the European Union already urged the authorities in Bosnia to close down the improvised Vucjak refugee shelter, underlining it is "not only unsafe but also an undignified location".

Earlier this year, the authorities in the northwestern town of Bihac began transferring Asian and Middle Eastern refugees who had found shelter on the streets of Bihac to the Vucjak camp, organised on the site of a former garbage dump, close to the Croatian border.

"As winter is approaching, BiH authorities must not put in peril human lives. As an immediate priority, existing facilities should be expanded to offer dignified living conditions. Furthermore, suitable alternative facilities need to be identified by the BiH authorities now," the EU has said.

Since the beginning of 2019, 23,000 migrants have arrived in Bosnia with existing migrant reception centres being full and thousands are sleeping on the streets or squatting in empty houses, according to IFRC data.

The EU has provided 34 million euro ($38 million) to Bosnia since 2018 to help the provision of shelter, food, water, sanitation, clothing, psychosocial assistance and access to education and health in five reception centres.

IFRC and the Red Cross Society of Bosnia also said they have appealed to their partners for 3.3 million Swiss francs ($3.3 million/3.0 million euro) to provide food, hygiene items, first aid and other assistance to 7,600 of the most vulnerable migrants in Bosnia along with cash grants for 1,500 host families during 2019. Around one third of the appeal has been funded so far.

(1 Swiss franc = 0.9069 euro)