Plans for a deportation center in the Lipa refugee camp in Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to cause a lot of controversy. As reported, the NGO SOS Balkan Route accuses Austria of helping to fund the construction of the prison. The Vienna Center for Migration Policy (ICMPD) is a particular target. Former ÖVP vice-chancellor and now director-general of the centre, Michael Spindelegger, dismisses the allegations as “complete nonsense”. No Austrian tax money has flowed into the project, nor is it about a “new Guantanamo in the Balkans,” he says.
“There is an allegation that people at the Croatian border are being pushed back into a camp that we are supposedly building, where people are then detained with human rights violations. This is utter nonsense. In no case is anyone housed in our facility that we made there because it is not yet operational,” Spindelegger said in an interview with APA on Friday.
“The facility serves to protect other residents from violent criminals”
Spindelegger was particularly angry about the Guantanamo comparison of the NGO SOS Balkan Route. “Guantanamo means: people are being illegally detained and tortured. That is a disregard for the victims of Guantanamo compared to what happened there,” said the former vice-chancellor. This is just as baseless as the accusation that ICMPD is an “ÖVP-related institution After all, the center is supported by 19 federal states, including Portugal, which is governed by socialists, and Germany, where a traffic light coalition is in power.
“We have set up a closed facility within a refugee camp on behalf of the European Commission, so that people who endanger others are isolated and held there for up to 72 hours,” emphasizes Spindelegger. The facility thus serves to protect other residents of the camp from violent criminals. After the deadline, the persons concerned should be released, unless they have been taken into custody or held awaiting deportation. “But that is done elsewhere,” the ICMPD boss stressed.
Ready to plant since January
The project, worth 500,000 euros, has been commissioned and financed by the European Commission. When asked why his institute was involved, Spindelegger pointed out that Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the ICMPD member states. In addition, rapid implementation was desired and the EU Commission could immediately issue an order in the case of the ICMPD. This took place at the end of August. Work started in September. The factory has been ready since the end of January and they are waiting to be handed over to the Bosnian authorities. This lasts “until the end of the month”. The 63-year-old also pointed out that his organization was only the installer of the system, not the owner and operator.
The accusations from NGOs meanwhile called the SPÖ opposition and the co-ruling Greens onto the scene. Their foreign policy spokeswoman, Ewa Ernst-Dziedzic, announced a fact-finding mission to Lipa. Ernst-Dziedzic was in the region in early 2021 and complained that Austrian aid for the refugees was not getting there. Thousands of people had to endure the middle of winter without permanent shelter and food. The pictures of the homeless refugees increased the pressure to build a standard refugee camp in Lipa.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
