Indian migrants Nishademi, 22, and Suhil, 23, walk with Saif, 33, Fatima, 24, and their son Omar, 1, Syrian refugees from Aleppo, toward the border with Croatia as they attempt to enter the EU in the mountains surrounding the town of Bihac, northwestern Bosnia, on Dec. 12, 2019. (Photo: Manu Brabo/AP)
BIHAC, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Bosnia’s notorious Vucjak camp may have closed down after an international outcry, but the plight of migrants stranded in the country while trying to reach Western Europe is far from over.
The tent camp near the northwestern town of Bihac stood on a former landfill and near a mine field, becoming a symbol of migrant suffering as they travel through the Balkans. The camp was flattened earlier this month, its residents transferred to other parts of Bosnia. Yet they are making their way back to Bihac because it is closest to the place they want to get to — Bosnia’s neighbor, European Union member Croatia.
In Bihac, migrants look for abandoned buildings or factories, or stay in the town’s migrant center if they are lucky. They camp among bare walls, waiting for a warm meal from aid groups.
Afghan migrants enter an abandoned farm near the border with Croatia to use it as shelter before attempting to cross the border into the EU near Bihac, northwestern Bosnia, on Dec. 14, 2019. (Photo: Manu Brabo/AP)
With the winter settling in, migrants want to hurry toward Croatia before the weather gets even worse. But this is not easy — they have to go over a mountain pass and police often turn them back.
They call it the “Game” — a cat-and-mouse chase with Croatia’s border patrols over the mountain tracks. Sometimes migrants try several times before they manage to cross, sometimes it takes weeks, even months.
It’s toughest for families with small children. Babies can’t stop crying. Parents bring the children as close to the fire as possible to keep them warm, but they are tired and the cold nonetheless bites at their tiny faces.
A family from Syria and a couple from India paused briefly this month before moving on in sub-freezing temperatures, loaded with personal belongings and carrying children. The women, Fatima, 24, from Syria, and Nishademi, 22, from India, are tired and scared.
Indian migrants Nishademi, 22, and Suhil, 23, warm up by a fire next to Fatima, 24, and her son Omar, 1, Syrian refugees from Aleppo, as they attempt to enter the EU through Croatia in the mountains surrounding the town of Bihac, northwestern Bosnia, on Dec. 12, 2019. (Photo: Manu Brabo/AP)
Elsewhere near the border, at an abandoned house, a group of young men are camping as they prepare to set off along a snowy road toward Croatia. Many wear only sneakers and have to wrap themselves in blankets.
About 20 migrants from Afghanistan eventually went toward Croatia, but half of them gave up along the way and returned. The snow had fallen overnight and it became too cold.
Inside the houses by the border, old, dirty mattresses serve as temporary beds for those who come by. Volunteers bring firewood and garbage is everywhere, testifying to the groups who have passed this way in the past.
Syrian refugee Mohhamed, 19, lights up a cigarette after breakfast inside an abandoned factory used by migrants as shelter, before making another attempt to cross into Croatia on the outskirts of Bihac, northwestern Bosnia, on Dec. 14, 2019. (Photo: Manu Brabo/AP)
Sometimes, young migrants play in the snow. Many are just children, often encouraged to leave home by their parents, who choose to send them on perilous journeys across the world rather than have them live lives without hope in their countries.
Bosnian authorities say there are several thousand people from the Middle East, Africa and Asia who are staying in the country while on their way toward wealthy EU nations.
Egyptian migrants walk through the snow in a mountain area believed to be littered with land mines planted during the Bosnian War, as they attempt to cross the border into Croatia near Bihac, northwestern Bosnia, on Dec. 15, 2019. (Photo: Manu Brabo/AP)
Bosnia’s border police say they don’t have enough manpower to stop the flow — the impoverished country is struggling to accommodate the newcomers.
But with nowhere to go in Bosnia’s harsh winter, some migrants opt to wait. They go back to the previous country they passed through, Serbia, to spend the winter, ready to try their luck again next spring.
Refugees from Afghanistan cook in the mountains surrounding the northwestern Bosnia town of Bihac after they fled a makeshift camp cleared and destroyed by Bosnian police near the village of Vucjak to avoid being resettled, on Dec. 11, 2019. (Photo: Manu Brabo/AP)
A plant sits in the middle of a makeshift refugee camp cleared and destroyed earlier by Bosnian police near the village of Vucjak on the outskirts of Bihac, northwestern Bosnia, on Dec. 11, 2019. (Photo: Manu Brabo/AP)
A group of migrants, mostly from Pakistan and Afghanistan, line up for food at a temporary reception center set up by the International Organization for Migration in Bihac, northwestern Bosnia, on Dec. 12, 2019. (Photo: Manu Brabo/AP)
A migrant from Afghanistan eats at a temporary reception center set up by the International Organization for Migration in Bihac, northwestern Bosnia, on Dec. 12, 2019. (Photo: Manu Brabo/AP)
Migrants, mostly from Pakistan and Afghanistan, pray at a makeshift mosque at a temporary reception center set up by the International Organization for Migration in Bihac, northwestern Bosnia, on Dec. 12, 2019. (Photo: Manu Brabo/AP)
Indian migrant Suhil, 23, helps Syrian migrant Fatima, 24, hold her son Omar, 1, while crossing the mountains between Bosnia and Croatia near the town of Bihac, northwestern Bosnia, on Dec. 12, 2019. (Photo: Manu Brabo/AP)
A migrant stands by the door of a stable before resuming his attempt to enter the EU through Croatia after resting near the town of Bihac, northwestern Bosnia, on Dec.12, 2019. (Photo: Manu Brabo/AP)
A Syrian refugee from Aleppo cries while his mother, Fatima, 24, tries to change his diaper before continuing their way as they attempt to enter the EU through Croatia in the mountains surrounding the town of Bihac, northwestern Bosnia, on Dec. 12, 2019. (Photo: Manu Brabo/AP)
Syrian refugees walk through a blizzard as they attempt to enter the EU through Croatia in the mountains surrounding the town of Bihac, northwestern Bosnia, on Dec. 12, 2019. (Photo: Manu Brabo/AP)
Indian migrant Nishademi, 22, lies exhausted on the snow near the Croatian border as a group of migrants try to enter the EU through Croatia in the mountains surrounding the town of Bihac, northwestern Bosnia, on Dec. 12, 2019. (Photo: Manu Brabo/AP)
Pakistani migrants sit cramped inside a small van after being taken off a train bound for the town of Bihac by Bosnian police in Bosanska Krupa, northwestern Bosnia, on Dec. 14, 2019. (Photo: Manu Brabo/AP)
Pakistani migrants stand by the rail tracks after being taken off a train bound for the town of Bihac by Bosnian police in Bosanska Krupa, northwestern Bosnia, on Dec. 14, 2019. (Photo: Manu Brabo/AP)
A group of Syrian migrants have breakfast inside an abandoned building as they take shelter before making another attempt to cross into Croatia on the outskirts of Bihac, northwestern Bosnia, on Dec. 14, 2019. (Photo: Manu Brabo/AP)
Afghan migrants warm up inside an abandoned factory used by migrants as shelter, before making another attempt to cross into Croatia on the outskirts of Bihac, northwestern Bosnia, on Dec. 14, 2019. (Photo: Manu Brabo/AP)
Afghan migrants stand near an abandoned farm located on the Bosnian side of the mountains near the border with Croatia as they wait to make another attempt to cross into the EU near Bihac, northwestern Bosnia, on Dec. 14, 2019. (Photo: Manu Brabo/AP)
Afghan migrants walk through the mountains in an area believed to have been mined during the Bosnian War, as they attempt to cross the border into Croatia near Bihac, northwestern Bosnia, on Dec. 15, 2019. (Photo: Manu Brabo/AP)
Afghan migrants take a break as they walk through the mountains in an area believed to be littered with land mines planted during the Bosnian War, as they attempt to cross the border into Croatia near Bihac, northwestern Bosnia, on Dec. 15, 2019. (Photo: Manu Brabo/AP)
Bosnian police inspect the shore of the Drina River bordering between Bosnia and Serbia in search of migrants in the town of Karakaj, northeastern Bosnia, on Dec. 16, 2019. (Photo: Manu Brabo/AP)
A group of migrants wait to be identified after being detained by Bosnian police around the Drina River bordering between Bosnia and Serbia in the town of Karakaj, northeastern Bosnia, on Dec. 16, 2019. (Photo: Manu Brabo/AP)
Migrants wander around the rail tracks near the Drina River bordering between Bosnia and Serbia in the town of Karakaj, northeastern Bosnia, on Dec. 17, 2019. (Photo: Manu Brabo/AP)
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