“Local authorities had to do two things – connect it to the electric grid and connect to the water,” said Peter van der Auweraert, chief of mission in Bosnia of the International Organisation for Migration. That never happened despite months of pleas to do this, so we could turn it into a permanent location.
Protests from the town’s residents and local authorities over where they should go meant the migrants spent the past 24 hours on buses.
They were eventually ordered off the vehicles and walked through mud back to the burnt-out camp.
Bundled up in hats, scarves and winter jackets, they carried their few possessions with them in bags, witnesses said.