In Bosnia, refugees stuck in a country its own people leave

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In Bosnia, refugees stuck in a country its own people leave

2019-06-21 01:24 Last Updated At：01:30

A covered-up landfill in a mine-infested part of a dysfunctional Balkan state whose own people are emigrating in droves might not seem ideal for a refugee camp. But local authorities in Bihac, a Bosnian city of 50,000, had little choice.

Still deeply scarred by a brutal inter-ethnic war in the 1990s, Bosnia has become the chief bottleneck on the main land route for thousands of migrants seeking a better life in Europe.

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In this photo taken on Wednesday, June 19, 2019, migrants wait in line to receive supplies from the Red Cross at the Vucijak camp outside Bihac, Bosnia. Still deeply scarred by a brutal inter-ethnic war in the 1990s, Bosnia has become the chief bottleneck in the main land route for thousands of migrants seeking a better life in Europe. According to Bosnian government statistics, 34,000 newcomers crossed into the country since the beginning of 2018, including 9,000 who arrived in the first five months of this year. (AP PhotoAlmir Alic)

A covered-up landfill in a mine-infested part of a dysfunctional Balkan state whose own people are emigrating in droves might not seem ideal for a refugee camp. But local authorities in Bihac, a Bosnian city of 50,000, had little choice.

In this photo taken on Wednesday, June 19, 2019, Ramadan, a migrant from Egypt, who did not want his family name fearing for the safety of his family, pauses during an interview with the Associated Press at the Vucijak camp outside Bihac, Bosnia. Still deeply scarred by a brutal inter-ethnic war in the 1990s, Bosnia has become the chief bottleneck in the main land route for thousands of migrants seeking a better life in Europe. According to Bosnian government statistics, 34,000 newcomers crossed into the country since the beginning of 2018, including 9,000 who arrived in the first five months of this year. (AP PhotoAlmir Alic)

Vucjak now provides 1,000 of them with tents and Red Cross meals, but few want to stay.

In this photo taken on Wednesday, June 19, 2019, migrants wait in line to receive supplies from the Red Cross at the Vucijak camp outside Bihac, Bosnia. Still deeply scarred by a brutal inter-ethnic war in the 1990s, Bosnia has become the chief bottleneck in the main land route for thousands of migrants seeking a better life in Europe. According to Bosnian government statistics, 34,000 newcomers crossed into the country since the beginning of 2018, including 9,000 who arrived in the first five months of this year. (AP PhotoAlmir Alic)

In this photo taken on Wednesday, June 19, 2019, migrants and refugees wait in line to receive supplies from the Red Cross at the Vucijak camp outside Bihac, Bosnia. Still deeply scarred by a brutal inter-ethnic war in the 1990s, Bosnia has become the chief bottleneck in the main land route for thousands of migrants seeking a better life in Europe. According to Bosnian government statistics, 34,000 newcomers crossed into the country since the beginning of 2018, including 9,000 who arrived in the first five months of this year. (AP PhotoAlmir Alic)

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A covered-up landfill in a mine-infested part of a dysfunctional Balkan state whose own people are emigrating in droves might not seem ideal for a refugee camp. But local authorities in Bihac, a Bosnian city of 50,000, had little choice.

Vucjak now provides 1,000 of them with tents and Red Cross meals, but few want to stay.

In this photo taken on Wednesday, June 19, 2019, migrants wait in line to receive supplies from the Red Cross at the Vucijak camp outside Bihac, Bosnia. Still deeply scarred by a brutal inter-ethnic war in the 1990s, Bosnia has become the chief bottleneck in the main land route for thousands of migrants seeking a better life in Europe. According to Bosnian government statistics, 34,000 newcomers crossed into the country since the beginning of 2018, including 9,000 who arrived in the first five months of this year. (AP PhotoAlmir Alic)

In this photo taken on Wednesday, June 19, 2019, migrants and refugees wait in line to receive supplies from the Red Cross at the Vucijak camp outside Bihac, Bosnia. Still deeply scarred by a brutal inter-ethnic war in the 1990s, Bosnia has become the chief bottleneck in the main land route for thousands of migrants seeking a better life in Europe. According to Bosnian government statistics, 34,000 newcomers crossed into the country since the beginning of 2018, including 9,000 who arrived in the first five months of this year. (AP PhotoAlmir Alic)

Until the camp's opening last week at Vucjak, 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the border with European Union-member Croatia, thousands of migrants — mostly single men — were sleeping rough in Bihac and other cities in Bosnia's northwestern Krajina region.

Vucjak now provides 1,000 of them with tents and Red Cross meals, but few want to stay.

AstraZeneca pulls its COVID vaccine from European market

2024-05-09 01:27 Last Updated At：01:30

LONDON (AP) — The pharma giant AstraZeneca has requested that the European authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine be pulled, according to the EU medicines regulator.

In an update on the European Medicines Agency's website Wednesday, the regulator said that the approval for AstraZeneca's Vaxzevria had been withdrawn “at the request of the marketing authorization holder.”

AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine was first given the nod by the EMA in January 2021. Within weeks, however, concerns grew about the vaccine's safety, when dozens of countries suspended the vaccine's use after unusual but rare blood clots were detected in a small number of immunized people. The EU regulator concluded AstraZeneca's shot didn't raise the overall risk of clots, but doubts remained.

Partial results from its first major trial — which Britain used to authorize the vaccine — were clouded by a manufacturing mistake that researchers didn’t immediately acknowledge. Insufficient data about how well the vaccine protected older people led some countries to initially restrict its use to younger populations before reversing course.

Billions of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were distributed to poorer countries through a U.N.-coordinated program, as it was cheaper and easier to produce and distribute. But studies later suggested that the pricier messenger RNA vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna provided better protection against COVID-19 and its many variants, and most countries switched to those shots.

The U.K.'s national coronavirus immunization program in 2021 heavily relied on AstraZeneca's vaccine, which was largely developed by scientists at Oxford University with significant financial government support. But even Britain later resorted to buying the mRNA vaccines for its COVID booster vaccination programs and the AstraZeneca vaccine is now rarely used globally.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

In Bosnia, refugees stuck in a country its own people leave

News

In Bosnia, refugees stuck in a country its own people leave

A covered-up landfill in a mine-infested part of a dysfunctional Balkan state whose own people are emigrating in droves might not seem ideal for a refugee camp. But local authorities in Bihac, a Bosnian city of 50,000, had little choice.

Vucjak now provides 1,000 of them with tents and Red Cross meals, but few want to stay.

A covered-up landfill in a mine-infested part of a dysfunctional Balkan state whose own people are emigrating in droves might not seem ideal for a refugee camp. But local authorities in Bihac, a Bosnian city of 50,000, had little choice.

Vucjak now provides 1,000 of them with tents and Red Cross meals, but few want to stay.

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