IOM in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH)

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH) is located at a migration crossroad between Eastern and Western Europe. The conflict in the former Yugoslavia from 1992 to 1995 destroyed the social and economic infrastructure and forced over half of citizens of BH to leave their homes. Today, the return of displaced persons and a rise in illegal migration, such as human trafficking and smuggling, make migration a major challenge for BH’s post-conflict recovery and development.

IOM initiated a mission in Sarajevo in 1992 in the basement of Koševo Hospital, setting up the MEDEVAC programme to evacuate war-wounded individuals who could not be treated locally. Following the end of the war, IOM expanded its activities to the return of refugees from abroad and to assist BH nationals resettling in third countries. Today, IOM’s programmes aim to prevent irregular migration, stop the trafficking of human beings, contribute to national development, and assist the BH Government to manage migration activities.

During the migrant and refugee crisis in 2015 - 2016, IOM - the UN Migration Agency - together with the international community, scaled up its presence in Greece and the Western Balkans, and in particular in North Macedonia and Serbia part of the so-called Western Balkan route, to support national authorities and civil society in responding to the emergency situation, and providing direct assistance and protection to migrants, particularly those most vulnerable to violence, exploitation and abuse, or a violation of their rights.

Following the significant increase of migrant arrivals to Bosnia and Herzegovina in late 2017, IOM, in coordination with State, Entity, cantonal and local authorities, scaled up its operations in key migrant locations across the country through the reinforcement of IOM Mobile Protection Teams. These mobile teams have been operating since June 2017, assisting migrants in vulnerable situations, providing safe transportation, interpretation services, provision of temporary and protection-sensitive accommodation, food and other necessities.

IOM Mobile Protection Teams – strategically located to be able to cover the entire migration route, from the Eastern border with Serbia and Montenegro to the North-West border with Croatia, and the main reception centres and informal settlements – performed vulnerability screenings and referred migrants to appropriate assistance and protection service providers.

 

Latest News and Events

  • IOM’s Migration Response (as of August 2019)

     

    In 2018, with the support of the European Union (DG ECHO and DG NEAR), IOM opened four new Temporary Reception Centres in Una Sana Canton with the support of the Council of Europe Development Bank, IOM opened one new Temporary Reception Centre in Hadzici Municipality:

    Sedra Temporary Reception Centre in Cazin Municipality for families and vulnerable migrants opened in July 2018

    Usivak Temporary Reception Centre in Hadzici Municipality primarily for single men, but also for families and vulnerable migrants opened in October 2018.

    Bira Temporary Reception Centre in the City of Bihac, primarily for single men opened in October 2018

    Miral Temporary Reception Centre in Velika Kladusa Municipality primarily for single men opened in October 2018, with IOM supporting the site management from November 2018.

    Borici Temporary Reception Centre in City of Bihac, families and vulnerable migrants re-opened in December 2018 following complete renovation.

     

  • SAOPŠTENJE ZA MEDIJE / PRESS RELEASE

     

    (Sarajevo, 09th September 2019) – Within the EU funded project 'EU Support to Migration and Border Management in BiH' the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Red Cross signed an Agreement for food provision to refugees and asylum seekers in the Refugee Centre Salakovac.  The EU will fund the staff of the Red Cross of the City of Mostar, as well as the provision, preparation and delivery food.

     

  • VACANCY For a senior migration advisor in the Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina EU’s Pre-Accession Assistance Project (IPA 2019)

     

    Senior Advisor for Migration management

    Number of employees: 1

    Status: consultancy contract

    Length of contract: the temporary post is foreseen for a period of 12 months starting from October 2019 with a possibility of prolongation, if needed.

    The senior advisor will reinforce the office of the Ministry of Security (MoS) by providing guidance and advice to the MoS and the relevant implementing Agencies in managing increased migration flows.

    Deadline for applications: 23 September 2019

     

  • IOM’s Migration Response (as of July 2019)

     

    IOM’s Migration Response (as of July 2019)

  • EU donated two vans to Service for Foreigners’ affairs (SAOPĆENJE ZA MEDIJE / PRESS RELEASE)

     

    (Sarajevo, 20. august 2019. godine.) - Evropska unija je nedavno obezbijedila dodatnih 14,8 miliona eura bespovratnih sredstava za nastavak podrške Bosni i Hercegovini u oblasti migracija i upravljanja granicama u kontekstu povećanog broja migranata i izbjeglica prisutnih u zemlji od kraja 2017. godine.

    To uključuje 13 miliona eura podrške za upravljanje migracijama - za koje je nedavno potpisan Sporazum o implementaciji sa Međunarodnom organizacijom za migracije (IOM) i 1,8 miliona eura humanitarne pomoći koju pruža Evropska komisija za humanitarnu pomoć i odjel za civilnu zaštitu (ECHO).

    * * *

    (Sarajevo, 20th August 2019) – The European Union has recently allocated additional €14.8 million in grants to continue to support Bosnia and Herzegovina in migration and border management in the context of the increased number of refugees and migrants present in the country since the end of 2017.

    This includes €13 million of support to migration management - for which an implementation agreement has been signed recently with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and €1.8 million of humanitarian aid provided by the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO).

     

     

More news

Latest Vacancy

Title Duty Station Closing Date
Assisted voluntary return and reintegration (AVRR) / Outreach Counsellor (6 positions) Sarajevo, Tuzla, Bihac, Velika Kladusa 2019-09-27
SVN 03-09-19 Grant Assistant Sarajevo 2019-10-01
JAVNI POZIV ZA DOSTAVLJANJE PONUDA – ZA GRAĐEVINSKE RADOVE NA REKONSTRUKCIJI PPC MIRAL, VELIKA KLADUŠA 2019-09-26
SVN 02-09-19 Project Officer Sarajevo 2019-09-18
SVN 01-09-19 Project Advisor Sarajevo 2019-09-18
VACANCY For a senior migration advisor in the Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina EU’s Pre-Accession Assistance Project (IPA 2019) 2019-09-23
JAVNI POZIV ZA DOSTAVLJANJE PONUDA – PREVOZ DJECE/ĐAKA NA LOKALNIM RELACIJAMA 2019-09-20

Presentation on the occasion of the NATO field exercise in the Base Operations at the University campus

Peter Van Der Auweraert, IOM Sub-Regional Coordinator for the Western Balkans, held a presentation on the occasion of the NATO field exercise in the Base Operations at the University campus yesterday in Tuzla on behalf of the UN agencies. Field NATO exercise to manage the consequences of crisis situations, simulated in Tuzla, represents a central event exercise organized jointly by the NATO’s Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC) and the Ministry of Security of BiH.

English

Coordination Meeting on the Prevention and Combatting Violent Extremism (P/CVE) in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Coordination Meeting on the Prevention and Combatting Violent Extremism (P/CVE) in Bosnia and Herzegovina was held yesterday, at the UN House, and organized by the Ministry of Security of BiH, with support from the IOM Mission in Sarajevo.

With opening remarks delivered by the BiH Minister, Mr. Dragan Mektić, the meeting took place within the framework of the BiH Strategy for Preventing and Combatting Violent Extremism 2015-2020, and it was chaired by the P/CVE National Coordinator for BiH, Mr. Samir Rizvo.

English

Interview with Peter Van der Auweaert, IOM Subregional Coordinator for the Western Balkans, on the Rohingya crisis and IOM's crisis response in Bangladesh and Myanmar

 

Watch the interview with Peter Van der Auweaert, IOM Subregional Coordinator for the Western Balkans, on the Rohingya crisis and IOM's crisis response in Bangladesh and Myanmar.

 

English