Last week, part of our STELP team visited our partners ‘Radosti Druženja’, SOS Balkanroute and Blindspots in Bosnia-Herzegovina, who are carrying out important humanitarian work on the ground. ‘The organisations are currently facing enormous challenges,’ explains our Balkan project coordinator Mirza Hadziavdic.
Radosti Druženja: Meeting place for people with disabilities
‘Radosti Druženja’ is an association that has been in existence for 15 years and runs a meeting centre for children and adults with disabilities. There, people can take part in educational and therapeutic workshops and activities. There is no institution in the entire canton that offers support for children with disabilities and their parents. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, people with disabilities are disadvantaged in almost all political and social structures. ‘In state institutions, children are often just treated as a number, but here it’s different,’ says Mirza.
The situation of refugees also remains worrying. Many aid organisations have withdrawn from Bosnia-Herzegovina. SOS Balkanroute is one of the few remaining organisations distributing food in the Bihać area. In the Velika Kladuša area, a border region where refugees often try to cross the border, there is hardly any other help.
The canton of Una-Sana, where Bihać and Velika Kladuša are located, is home to two camps for refugees: Lipa for adults and Borići for families. The Lipa camp in particular is a cause for concern – a playground was originally planned there, but instead a prison has now been built on the planned site. A metaphor for the current situation on the ground.
Blindspots: Hope for the winter
The Blindspots organisation has temporarily suspended its activities in Bosnia-Herzegovina, but plans to return in winter. STELP will play a crucial role in this by funding donations of wood and stoves for people fleeing outside the camps. The migrants, who are often forcibly pushed back from crossing the border by the Croatian police, otherwise have little chance of survival in the cold.
Conclusion: Small organisations, big challenges
The visits to Bosnia-Herzegovina have shown that the aid organisations and therefore also the people in need are increasingly left to their own devices. While small organisations are achieving great things, international support is failing to materialise. STELP is doing everything it can to continue to make a difference, but the challenges are growing every day.
