Original article (in Bosnian) was published on 23/12/2021
The Radio-Television of Republika Srpska (RTRS) incorrectly stated that the hosting center for migrants, Lipa, was built on private properties.
On December 10, 2021, Radio-Television of Republic of Srpska (RTRS) published an article on its website, with the following headline:
In Lipa, everything is for migrants, Serbs don’t even get electricity; The only sanctuary is from 1901 (VIDEO)
In the article, which deals with the problems of Serb returnees to the village of Lipa near Bihac, the journalist claims that this “Serbian village” became known for migrants, not for Serb returnees. It is also stated that the nearby migrant camp Lipa was built on the property of Serbs.
Instead of renovating the houses of the Serbs and enabling them to return, they set up a migrant camp on their properties. (…)
The article also published a video of a television report from the show “Pecat”, which was broadcast on December 10, 2021. The same report was published on the YouTube channel of RTRS.
The claim that the camp for migrants in Lipa was built on the property of Serbs was stated by the journalist, which can be heard at 2:05 of the recording.
During the video report, the journalist did not offer any arguments for the claim that a migrant camp was built on Serbian properties, i.e., partly on private properties.
Other websites later shared the RTRS article: Princip News, Top Portal and Patriote Srpske. It was also published on the website of the political organization Alliance of Serbs from the region.
The migrant center Lipa was renovated and officially opened on November 19, 2021, with the financial support of the European Union. Let us remind you that there was a tent settlement on the site of today’s center, where a fire broke out in December 2020, and a new settlement was built, which, as we mentioned, was opened in November this year.
We asked the EU Delegation to BiH whether they were aware of the claims that the Lipa reception center was built on Serbian properties, i.e., partly on private properties, and whether such allegations were true.
Ferdinand Koenig, a spokesman for the EU Delegation and the Office of the EU Special Representative in BiH, said that the land on which the mentioned reception center was built was owned by the City of Bihac.
We contacted the Ministry of Security of BiH, which informed us that the land on which the Temporary Reception Center Lipa was built is owned by the City of Bihac, and that it was ceded to the Ministry of Security of BiH for a period of 5 years.
In response, Koenig also mentioned that the EU Delegation to BiH still cannot speak on behalf of the Ministry to which the Lipa Migrant Center was ceded.
Raskrinkavanje also contacted the City of Bihac with the question of whether the allegations that the Lipa reception center was built on Serbian estates, i.e., partly on private estates, were true.
Damir Smajic, Assistant Mayor for Urban Planning, Construction, Property-Legal and Geodetic Affairs of the City of Bihac, explained in his response that this city owns the land on which the Lipa migrant center was built.
Regarding your inquiry, on behalf of the City Administration and the Mayor of the City of Bihac, Mr. Suhret Fazlic, I would like to inform you that the Lipa migrant camp, intended for accommodation of persons, is located on land marked as no. 145/1 k.o. Lipa (one cadastral operetta), total area 40903 m22, registered as a 6th class meadow of 27883 m2, 5th class meadow of 7050 m2 and 7th class arable land/field of 5970 m2, and which land is by the Decision of the Ministry of Agriculture, water management and forestry of the Una-Sana Canton temporarily converted into non-agricultural purposes (for a period of 5 years), registered as the property of the City of Bihac as 1/1. All parties that directly border the estate in question were invited and participated in all procedures related to the issuance of construction deeds for the camp in question.
So, in the video report and the RTRS article, the journalist does not provide an argument that a migrant camp was built on Serbian properties, i.e., partly on private properties.
The EU Delegation to BiH, which financially supported the renovation of the Lipa reception center, confirmed to us that, according to available information from the BiH Ministry of Security, the City of Bihac owns the land on which the center is located.
Moreover, Damir Smajic, Assistant Mayor for Urban Planning, Construction, Property-Legal and Geodetic Affairs of the City of Bihac, confirmed to us that the City of Bihac is the owner of the land.
Following the stated facts, we assess the claim from the television report and the RTRS article suggesting that a migrant camp was built on Serbian properties, i.e., partly on private properties, as fake news.
All subsequent publications of articles with this claim are assessed as the distribution of fake news.