Facts and Figures

IOM Member State since 2005 Capital: Sarajevo Population (2011): 3.8 million Area: 51,129 sq km Major Languages: Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian Currency: Marka (BAM) GDP per Capita PPP (2010): USD 8,590 HDI Rank (2011): 74 of 187 Remittances (2011 estimates): USD 2,009 million Net Migration Rate (2010-2015): -0.3 migrants / 1,000 population Immigrants (2010): 0.7% Women as a Percentage of Immigrants (2010): 50.3% Population under 15 (2011): 14.8% Adult HIV Prevalence (2009): not available

Additional Resources Bosnia and Herzegovina: Migration Profile 2007 International Migration Law Database National Instruments: Bosnia and Herzegovina Sources and Definitions

Latest News

• IOM to Assist in Reintegration of Former Soldiers in Bosnia and Herzegovina through NATO Trust Fund

Overview

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is located at a migration crossroad between Eastern and Western Europe. Bosnia and Herzegovina’s proximity to the European Union (EU), its dual-state system, young migration management structure, porous borders, lax visa regimes, and limited resources have made it a source and transit country for irregular migration, human trafficking, and smuggling. In recent years however, Bosnia and Herzegovina has made significant improvements in its migration management capacities: the country currently possesses all basic migration management structures and legislation. Visa liberalisation was granted for citizens of BiH in 2010, permitting those possessing a biometric passport to travel to and throughout the Schengen area without a visa for up to 90 days. The speed and professionalism with which visa liberalisation was achieved in BiH is testament to the abilities and will of the Government to bring the country closer to Euro-Atlantic integration.

As Bosnia and Herzegovina continues to pursue its aim of EU accession, increasing attention has been given to key migration issues by governments, civil society, and the media. As a result, IOM’s recent efforts have evolved to focus on building the capacity of the BiH Government to manage migration according to EU standards; promote security sector reforms; enhance border management; fight trafficking in human beings; facilitate managed migration; and provide return and reintegration assistance to migrants. It is the goal of IOM in Bosnia and Herzegovina to continue to work in full partnership with governments, national and international stakeholders and civil society to promote humane migration management, international cooperation, and practical solutions to managing migration in the region.

IOM aims to augment the EU accession process in BiH through facilitating the establishment of mechanisms and structures that exist in the EU and will remain wholly practical subsequent to EU accession. Pertinently, there is a requirement for mechanisms which ensure that an effective system is in place for identifying and combating cross-border transgressions in full compliance with Schengen border security standards, enabling the freedom of movement for goods, capital, and persons whilst tackling trans-border crime and irregular migration.

According to the International Monetary Fund, Bosnia and Herzegovina receives one of the highest levels of diaspora remittances in terms of their percentage of the country’s GDP. In this context, IOM intends to continue assisting the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina in strengthening its migration management capacity, including the management of irregular migration and trafficking in human beings. In addition, IOM will continue to work with the Diaspora Sector of the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees (MHRR) to establish the conditions and pursue opportunities to maximise the collective knowledge and remittances of the diaspora. Such initiatives are crucial in enabling Bosnia and Herzegovina to offer its youth income-generating opportunities that will encourage them to remain in the country and avoid irregular migration.

Activities proposed by IOM in Bosnia and Herzegovina broadly aim at identifying and promoting practical and humane solutions to migration management in the region, to enhance cooperation between BiH and the international community; building capacities in migration management and security sector reform (SSR) to further stabilise the country and region in line with EU and Euro-Atlantic integration priorities for BiH; providing assistance to vulnerable migrants and empowering minority groups, to facilitate effective social, economic, and cultural integration; and enhancing youth employability and maximising the impact of the diaspora to support economic development and stabilise migration flows to the EU.

Movement, Emergency and Post-crisis Migration Management

NATO-PERSPEKTIVA Programme for Released Personnel of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina 2010-2012. Since 2002, IOM has assisted the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina in managing the social and economic reintegration of discharged personnel of the Armed Forces, to maintain peace and stability, foster economic recovery, and reduce unemployment. IOM is currently implementing the NATO-PERSPEKTIVA Programme in partnership with the Ministry of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This Programme facilitates the social and economic reintegration of approximately 3,000 personnel from the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina who are discharged between 2010 and 2012 as a result of the Law on Service, which places an upper limit of 35 years for active service. The Programme contributes to their economic and social reinsertion through the provision of assistance in training and re-qualification; business start-up and expansion; agri-business; and employment and job placement. Beneficiaries are assisted through three Regional Resettlement Centres (RRCs), located in Sarajevo, Mostar, and Banja Luka, with a fourth currently being established in Tuzla.

Main Project

• NATO-PERSPEKTIVA Programme for Released Personnel of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina 2010-2012

Migration Health

Swedish Medical Programme. In 1995, IOM, in partnership with the Swedish Migration Board, initiated the Swedish Medical Programme (SMP). The Programme has developed from its original mandate, in which medical evacuations were facilitated from BiH to Sweden for those who could not be adequately treated locally, to include training of BiH medical personnel who accompanied the medical evacuees to Sweden. Today, the Programme facilitates visits of Swedish Medical Teams to perform complex operations together with local colleagues. Based on an assessment of the most frequently occurring medical evacuations, Swedish Medical Teams are sent to BiH to target those fields in most urgent need of assistance. The Swedish Medical Teams screen, evaluate and provide treatment for patients in BiH who would otherwise need to be evacuated for medical care. The Programme builds the capacity of local medical institutions by providing on-the job training and sharing of experience with seminars, workshops, and lectures, as well as through donations of medical equipment. Further capacity building takes place when BiH health professionals collaborate with Swedish Medical Teams in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with local practitioners participating in preoperative investigations, surgery, postoperative care, and medical follow up for all patients.

HIV/AIDS National Capacity Building and Awareness Raising Activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Mobile Populations. IOM is implementing activities aimed at decreasing the vulnerability of migrants and mobile populations to HIV/AIDS. The project builds on the active participation of local and international actors in the fields of HIV/AIDS assessment, prevention, and care and policy response. Actors include public institutions, essential for developing relevant policies; civil society, to ensure the outreach of both general public and people living with HIV/AIDS; as well as media representatives, to communicate relevant messages on HIV/AIDS to selected audiences. Within the capacity building component, a variety of trainings are being organised for NGOs and mass media professionals to strengthen their communications skills on both HIV/AIDS prevention and care among mobile populations. The project will support the design and implementation of an HIV/AIDS awareness raising campaign focusing on the promotion of Voluntary Confidential Counselling and Testing (VCCT). The VCCT campaign will be tailored to the needs of mobile populations, with a particular focus on truck drivers and will be jointly implemented with project stakeholders including NGOs and media professionals trained under this project.

Medical Health Assessment Programme. IOM's migration health activities aim to reduce and better manage the health consequences of migration-related diseases through medical screening and the evaluation of migrants and refugees being processed for resettlement. The Medical Health Assessment Programme within Bosnia and Herzegovina was established in 2002 for nationals leaving the country under resettlement programmes. Migration Health Assessments provide the opportunity to promote the health of migrants through the initiation of preventative and curative interventions for conditions that, if left untreated, could have a negative impact on the migrant's health and/or on the public health of the host communities.

Main Projects

• Swedish Medical Programme
• HIV/AIDS National Capacity Building and Awareness Raising Activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Mobile Populations
• Medical Health Assessment Programme.

Facilitating Migration

MDG-F Youth Employability and Retention Programme (YERP). IOM works in partnership with four UN agencies, government authorities, the private sector, and civil society to improve the employability of BiH youth, while providing new entry points to the labour market. Within YERP, IOM will design and implement a pilot circular migration scheme for both skilled and unskilled youth, working with Youth Employment Resource Centres (CISO in their local language acronym) schools, and local media to reach out to potential young migrants. IOM will provide training to CISOs on assistance to potential and returning migrants, as well as migrants selected for organised schemes.

Assisted Voluntary Return and Temporary Return of Qualified Nationals. IOM Sarajevo undertakes projects aimed at facilitating the voluntary return of migrants to their countries of origin; both irregular migrants stranded in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as nationals of Bosnia and Herzegovina who volunteer to return. IOM also assists the latter to reintegrate economically and socially into their communities of origin. The temporary return of qualified nationals from the Netherlands has been facilitated in both the public and private sector to transfer knowledge and create networks.

Migration for Development in the Western Balkans (MIDWEB). In the field of Labour Migration, IOM participates in a regional EU-funded project that promotes and supports cooperation initiatives between the relevant actors in EU Member States and in the Western Balkans to facilitate the entry of potential migrants to labour markets in the EU and the Western Balkans. In addition, measures are developed to facilitate the return of skilled labour forces, reintegrating them into their country of origin, and supporting the dissemination of new acquired skills for the development of the Western Balkans.

Main Projects

• MDG-F Youth Employability and Retention Programme (YERP)
• Assisted Voluntary Return and Temporary Return of Qualified Nationals
• Migration for Development in the Western Balkans (MIDWEB)

Migration Policy and Research

Strategy on Migration and Asylum and Action Plan 2012-2015. The inaugural Migration and Asylum Strategy and Action Plan was drafted in 2008 with a three year outlook, and the subsequent Strategy and Action Plan for 2012-2015 will not be a mere update of the previous document. Rather it will aim to summarise the current situation in the field of visa issuance, border control, and immigration and asylum management; analyse results from 2008-2011; identify critical issues; and establish a new comprehensive strategy and action plan for its implementation based on lessons learned and best practices from the previous period. It will also be expanded to include broader aspects of migration, such as labour migration and its impact on development.

Main Project

• Strategy on Migration and Asylum and Action Plan 2012-2015

Last updated:
Main text: January 2012
Facts and figures: Februrary 2012