President of the Union for Sustainable Return and Refugees in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UZOPI), Mirhunisa Zukić reminds on the occasion of World Refugee Day that forced migration and departure into uncertainty, with many obstacles and problems, are painful issues that have existed in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Western Balkans for three decades, with the still unfinished process of return above all sustainable.
“Collective centers (with the information that 550 more housing units need to be built for their closure) and the figure of 43,000 applicants to the Ministry for Refugees and Displaced Persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina who are seeking the reconstruction of their housing facilities, are data that indicate the magnitude of the problem of refugees and displaced persons in BiH,” Zukić explains.
And while waiting for the reconstruction of residential buildings, as she said, the process of emigration from Bosnia and Herzegovina and those who returned to the places of pre-war life, whose children are leaving in search of a better and safer existence, is underway.
According to the database, which was established by UZOPI in 2013 and is continuously updated, there are 484,996 emigrants from Bosnia and Herzegovina as of 2021. Last year, another 15,000 people were evicted from Posavski and ZHK, and another 8,000 people from Doboj, Derventa, Teslić, Gradiška, Prijedor and Prnjavor. Therefore, according to the received data, UZOPI estimates that around 600,000 of its inhabitants have left BiH since 2013.
“Unfortunately, that figure says it all and warns that Bosnia and Herzegovina is left without a population, as we witness that Afro-Asian countries are left without their inhabitants, who die on the migrant routes to Europe, while the international community ‘agrees’ on quotas for accepting migrants,” said Zukić, emphasizing that ‘refugees, exiles, migrants, displaced persons, whatever you call them, are people who have lost the most valuable thing, which is home’.
As the most painful message for World Refugee Day, Zukić points out the tragedy that happened last week in the Ionian Sea off the southern coast of Greece, where at least 79 migrants died when the ship, loaded with 750 people, capsized and sank.
World Refugee Day is marked on June 20 to raise awareness of the plight of people around the world who are forced to leave their homes.
