On December 1, 2022, AIPG’s Mediterranean Basin Programs team organized the presentation of the baseline report in Sarajevo on the situation of migrants and refugees in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which highlights the findings of the first project year within the program “Atrocity Prevention during a Global Migration Crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
Written by the project coordinator, Ms. Maida Ćehajić – Čampara, the report is based on the discussions during two online training programs and an in-person workshop organized at the intersection of atrocity prevention and immigration policy. The report also includes interviews with several practitioners who work with migrants and asylum seekers, State representatives of relevant institutions, centers for social work, and international and non-governmental organizations.
The baseline report provides a detailed insight into the legal and institutional framework, up-to-date migration and official asylum statistics, implemented activities, best practices, and systemic challenges encountered in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It also presents a list of policy recommendations to be further addressed in consultations with relevant stakeholders over the next few years.
The event welcomed 30 participants from the Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ministry of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Institution of Human Rights Ombudsperson, security sector institutions (State Investigation and Protection Agency, the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Service for Foreigner’s Affairs, Ministries of Internal Affairs of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republika Srpska, the Canton Sarajevo and the Police of Brčko District), the European Union delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as members of academia from the University of Sarajevo, as well as civil society representatives working directly in the field.
All participants expressed interest in the continuation of the project. They also commended the idea of an expanding informal, working-level community of experts as a pragmatic and solution-oriented mechanism in a context marked by a complex institutional architecture and a challenging political environment.