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BIHAC, Bosnia (Reuters) - More than a thousand migrants from Asia, the Middle East and North Africa were left to sleep in the cold after their camp in northwestern Bosnia burned down amid a dispute among Bosnian politicians over where to house them.

On Wednesday, a fire destroyed the camp in Lipa housing about 1,200 people. Police and UN officials have said the blaze was probably started by migrants unhappy at the temporary closure of the camp, scheduled for the same day, and uncertainty about where they would be relocated in Bosnia.

Dozens of men spent the night at a damaged metal container near the site of the fire, where only a ghostly steel construction remained. Smoke was still rising from some burned patches of ground on Thursday morning.

Other migrants tried to erect nylon tents and slept fully dressed on the frozen ground. Most of them walked through the woods towards the town of Bihac, near the Croatian border, avoiding areas marked with warnings about landmines remaining from the Bosnian war in the 1990s.

About 10,000 migrants from Asia, the Middle East and North Africa are stuck in Bosnia, hoping to reach wealthier countries in the European Union.

I couldnt sleep last night, I sat all night, said Bylal from Pakistan, adding that he would wait to see if the government would provide them with a new shelter.

The Lipa camp, which was opened last spring as a temporary shelter for the summer months 25 km away from Bihac, was set to be shut on Wednesday for winter refurbishing. But Bosnias authorities failed to find alternative accommodation for residents.

The central government wanted the migrants to temporarily return to the Bira camp in Bihac, which was shut down in October, but local authorities disagreed saying that other parts of Bosnia should also share the burden of the migrant crisis.

Please open the Bira camp so everybody goes there, its very good there, said Yasin, also from Pakistan. Here its cold, we cant stay here, we dont have food, we are hungry.

The European Union, which had supported Bosnia with 60 million euros to manage the migrant crisis and pledged 25 million euros more, has repeatedly asked the authorities to find an alternative to the unsuitable Lipa camp, warning of an unfolding humanitarian crisis.

We urge ... the authorities to rise above political considerations and temporarily reopen the centre Bira in Bihac, the EU said in a statement on Wednesday.

Reporting by Dado Ruvic; Additional reporting and writing by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Alexandra Hudson

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Thousands of migrants left without shelter after Bosnia camp burned down - Reuters

A 1,500-page black book documenting hundreds of illegal pushbacks against asylum seekers by authorities on Europes external borders was released last week and handed over to the EU commission.

Compiled by the watchdog organisation Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN), the Black Book of Pushbacks is a collection of 892 group testimonies, detailing the experiences of 12,654 victims of human rights violations along the Balkan migration route, one of the most gruelling in the recent migrant crisis given the alleged violence of border police officers.

Every day, thousands of people, mainly from south Asia, the Middle East and north Africa, attempt to cross the Balkans to reach Europe. It is an arduous journey with virtually no welcoming facilities for migrants, who are forced to spend most of the trip in makeshift camps or in train stations.

For years, charities have denounced the abuses, particularly in Croatia, as asylum seekers are systematically beaten, robbed and pushed back. Between January and November 2020, the Danish Refugee Council recorded 15,672 pushbacks from Croatia to Bosnia-Herzegovina, with more than 60% of these reportedly violent.

This book which brings together four years of work points to a gaping hole in accountability for perpetrating authorities, including member states and EU agencies, like Frontex, Simon Campbell, field coordinator for BVMN, told the Guardian. The testimonies, committed here to paper, represent a definitive archive of evidence, detailing systematic violations against people on the move, such as breaches of international law on asylum and returns, as well as the prohibition of torture.

More than 15 organisations have contributed to the book, which contains maps, data, photos and other key information and was made in collaboration with the United Left block of the European parliament.

Last Friday, Malin Bjrk, a member of the parliaments committee on civil liberties, justice and home affairs and Miguel Urbn, co-founder of Spanish political party Podemos, presented and handed over the Black Book to the EU commissioner for asylum, Ylva Johansson, in Brussels.

Speaking about the launch of the Black Book, German MEP Cornelia Ernst said: We have been so shocked by endless accounts of merciless, sadistic and degrading violence reminiscent of brutal dictatorships. The Black Book sheds some much-needed light on this dark chapter of the EU. Our hope is that it will contribute to bringing an end to these crimes and holding the governments that are responsible accountable.

Although these accusations are met with denial from the perpetrating countries, what we provide within these pages is an analysis of patterns and photo evidence that reveal an ongoing, systematic practice, said Hope Barker, spokesperson for BVMN.

And these are just the stories that the network has managed to record. The reality is much wider and more far-reaching.

We call for an end to impunity and a renewed commitment to accountability, both of which will work towards ending such brutal human rights violations, she said.

In Bosnia-Herzegovina about 1,200 migrants and asylum-seekers are living in squalid conditions in the Lipa tented camp in Una-Sana canton, a site unsuitable for winter. The International Organization for Migration said it would close the camp as Bosnian authorities had ignored its appeals to help supply basic services.

Thousands of migrants in Bosnia-Herzegovina could soon face an impossible choice: fend for themselves in abandoned buildings and squats, or attempt to cross the border into Croatia and the EU in the hope of escaping the violence of border police.

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'Black book' of thousands of illegal migrant pushbacks presented to EU - The Guardian

The year 2020 drew sharp focus to land and property rights issues in India. The year began with protests against the National Register of Citizens (NRC), which if implemented would have relied on citizens having their land records in place to prove citizenship. Many commentators lamented how landless migrant labour would meet these stringent requirements in a country where land records management is in an abysmal shape with limited digitisation.

With the onset of the pandemic, and India going into an unprecedented lockdown, the shocking sight of migrant labourers walking the highways for days exposed the lack of inclusive housing in our cities. They were forced to leave cities not only due to the lack of affordable housing, but also because informal rent agreements enabled abrupt evictions. While many developed countries enforced rent moratoriums and protections against evictions, in India, authorities could not create such a safety net. Informal tenancy in urban and semi-urban India and landlessness in rural India plunged the most vulnerable populations into further despair.

Lockdowns across the world also forced businesses to consider diversification of their supply chains. This turned the attention of policymakers to the ease of doing business to make India an attractive destination for companies looking to invest in new locations. Again, land reforms became a central part of this conversation. While the central government explored the idea of creating land banks, some states focused on structural reforms. Karnataka amended laws to remove restrictions on buying and selling of agricultural land by non-agriculturalists.

Other developments that brought focus to property rights include the SVAMITVA (Survey of villages and mapping with improvised technology in village areas) scheme launched in April 2020. The scheme aims to survey non-agricultural inhabited land in rural India. The stated goals are connecting rural Indians with institutional credit through better property records, and empowering Panchayati Raj institutions through property tax collection.

In October 2020, in response to the migrant crisis, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs announced the Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHCs) Scheme. The scheme aims to fill the affordable housing gap in cities by utilising government-funded vacant houses along with construction, operation and maintenance of new affordable housing projects by private players.

In an unrelated development, the Supreme Court passed a landmark judgement; it ruled that daughters have equal coparcenary rights in Hindu Undivided Family properties, even if the father died before the enactment of the 2005 Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act. Gender activists celebrated the judgment as this ambiguity had presented a big hurdle for women across India in accessing their property rights.

Though these developments seem disparate, it is worth noting that land and property rights dominated peoples lives and public narrative even in an extraordinary year such as 2020. The year highlighted the fault lines in our land governance and exacerbated the effect of existing inefficiencies in our system. As we look to kickstart recovery in 2021, one hopes that policymakers will retain focus on making land records services citizen-friendly, undertaking surveys of previously unsurveyed areas, improving land markets and continuing to invest in affordable housing in our urban centres.

Presently, there are interesting policy proposals under discussion to achieve these goals. Apart from ARHC and SVAMTIVA that may be scaled up, a Model Tenancy Act aimed at bridging the trust deficit between tenants and landlords is under consideration. The Centre and states are mulling subsidies in stamp duty rates to boost the real estate market and property registration. Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are making huge investments in new surveys and technology to improve land governance.

A continued focus on land and property rights is important these cross-cutting issues not only impact the growth of Indias economy but play an important role in the lives of all Indians. Among other things, 2020 has also been a stark reminder that governments must prioritise securing land and property rights for all its citizens.

Aparajita Bharti is founding partner and Bindushree D is policy associate at The Quantum Hub, a public policy research and advocacy firm

The views expressed are personal

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An unlikely common strand of 2020 land and property rights - Hindustan Times

WARSAW, 18 December 2020 In a year that has made our common humanity so clear as the world struggles to overcome the Covid-19 pandemic, greater efforts must be taken to safeguard and promote the human rights of all migrants, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said on the occasion of International Migrants Day.

As we look towards 2021 in the hope it will bring health, wellbeing, and new opportunities to us and our loved ones, let us not forget the plight of the many migrants across the OSCE region who remain on the move or trapped in overcrowded camps or shelters. Whether they are travelling with their families or have left them far behind, they too are hoping that the next year will bring them safety and stability.

The pandemic has exposed many challenges already present in our societies for this ever-growing group of people, and highlighted the precarious situation in which many migrant communities across the OSCE region live. They were affected by border closures and movement restrictions, continue to suffer from unemployment or face greater risk exposure as essential workers responsible for keeping our societies and economies running.

Migrants have also found themselves the target of intolerance and hate-motivated attacks following the outbreak of the pandemic, and often unjustly blamed for the rapid spread of the virus. Migrant women in particular have suffered from discrimination and hatred. Its important to understand that hate crime can lead to lasting trauma among victims, their families and communities as they struggle with a sense of fear and uncertainty that goes beyond the individual crimes perpetrated against them.

On todays International Migrants Day, it is therefore time for OSCE countries to strengthen their commitment to combat xenophobia and protect the human rights of migrants across the region. At the same time, better co-ordination between national services responsible for migrants is needed to ensure their long-term integration, as well as improved co-operation between host countries. Migrants should never be left unprotected due to a lack of policy at national or international level.

In recent years, ODIHR has provided opportunities for more than 2,000 officials, experts and civil society representatives working on different aspects of migration and human rights to learn and exchange good practices in areas ranging from alternatives to immigration detention through to border monitoring. Other ODIHR resources in this area, including policy recommendations and guidance, can be found here.

OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights

Public Affairs Unit

Office: +48 22 520 06 00

Fax: +48 22 520 06 05

PublicAffairs@odihr.pl

Katya Andrusz

Spokesperson

OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR)

Ul. Miodowa 10

00-251 Warsaw

Poland

Office: +48 22 520 0640

Mobile: +48 609 522 266

Katya.Andrusz@odihr.pl

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Like all of us, migrants need safety and stability after this year of crisis, OSCE human rights office says - World - ReliefWeb

New survey data show children on the move largely excluded from pandemic response and recovery

NEW YORK, 18 December 2020 In countries around the world, migrant and displaced children have been largely excluded from national response and recovery plans to the COVID-19 pandemic and have experienced a significant reduction in access to essential services and care, UNICEF announced today. These findings are based on data collected through a recent UNICEF survey of 159 countries in which it has an operational presence.

Of the estimated 272 million international migrants globally, 33 million are children, including 12.6 million child refugees and 1.5 million asylum-seekers. Tens of millions more move within their countries India alone hosts an estimated 93 million internal child migrants. Across the globe, 21.5 million children have been internally displaced due to conflict, violence or disasters.

On International Migrants Day, the UN childrens agency is urging governments to ensure that all vulnerable children including those living as refugees, migrants or internally displaced are prioritized in pandemic response and recovery efforts regardless of their status and reached with quality protection, health care, water, sanitation and education services.

The results of this survey are a flashing red warning sign that the most vulnerable children are being left on their own to manage the fallout from the pandemic, said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore. With the right support at the right time, children on the move can contribute invaluable talent to their new homes skills that countries should leverage to recover from the pandemic. UNICEF calls for more global investment to support these children, and stands ready to work with governments to achieve the positive benefits that migration offers children.

Some of the more pronounced reductions in services are occurring in countries with ongoing crises like conflict or disaster, where children on the move already faced barriers in accessing health care, clean water and adequate sanitation. According to the UNICEF surveys:

50 per cent of countries in which UNICEF has active humanitarian operations report a reduction in access to health care among displaced and refugee populations; and

Nearly a quarter of the same countries report a disruption in water, hygiene and sanitation services in refugee or displacement camps.

More broadly beyond fragile contexts, the survey data show that refugee, migrant and displaced children are not being reached as part of socioeconomic response and recovery efforts. For example:

58 per cent of UNICEF country offices surveyed report inadequate remote learning options for vulnerable child populations, including those living as refugees, migrants or internally displaced;

36 per cent report reduced protection services for migrant and displaced children; and

50 per cent report that refugees and asylum seekers are not covered under new or expanded COVID-19 related government social protection measures.

UNICEF is also concerned about increasingly negative perceptions and hostility expressed towards children on the move, a trend that is expected to intensify as the socioeconomic crisis generated by COVID-19 worsens and millions of migrants return home to countries with increasing rates of unemployment:

UNICEF is working with partners to help migrant and displaced populations protect themselves from the pandemic and its devastating socioeconomic impacts. This includes providing accurate, child friendly information on COVID-19 and hygiene practices in a language they understand, ensuring access to hygiene and water supplies wherever children find themselves, and ensuring that migrant and displaced children are not left behind in efforts to guarantee continuous access to education, health, nutrition and child protective services.

Media contacts

Christopher TideyUNICEF New YorkTel: +1 917 340 3017Email: ctidey@unicef.org

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COVID-19 has led to dramatic reduction in essential services and protection for migrant and displaced children in countries around the world - World -...