Professor Amer Osmic talked on how the data from the census in BiH can influence processes in our country.
“In all possible processes, BiH census- which is the most statically demanding procedure of a country, gives us a classic image of the country, or a classic inventory. I like to say an inventory of the situation in the country through which you get information about the economic status of the country, housing status of the country – how does our population live etc.,” said Osmic.
Asked about the painful truth that politicians hide through this dimension, Amer Osmic said: “It is very clear that the painful truth is that the majority of cities and towns in BiH, after the census results, are shown to be ethnically homogenized. We can see a very clear dominance of certain ethnic groups in all major cities of BiH and in my opinion, a wish of many citizens of BiH is that the country is multi-ethnic in these segments, but the figures did not show that.”
The results of the census from 2013 showed that a total of 70.4 % of Bosniaks live in the FBiH, 22.4 % of Croats and 3.6% of Serbs. Professor Osmic commented whether these data are surprising:
“Honestly, this data, for someone who lives in Sarajevo, are quite surprising. I did not expect to have such a small number of people who identify themselves as ethnic Serbs in the FBiH. This percentage is actually a little surprising, but having in mind all internal migrations in BiH since 1995 onwards – it was a logical sequence. Citizens in BiH unfortunately mostly trust and feel the greatest security in areas dominated by their ethnic group. ”
About the data that there is 840,000 less residents in BiH than on the census from 1991, and whether it is the most surprising thing, Amer Osmic stated:
“Yes. We are, by statistics, back in 1971, or even before that. According to the census from 1971, BiH had 3.7 million citizens. According to the census from 1991, BiH had 4.3 million citizens. Today, that is in 2013, BiH has 3.5 million citizens, which is 845,000 citizens less than in 1991.”
Professor Amer Osmic said what is the most important information from the published results of the census of 2013.
“The most important fact is that we have 800,000 inhabitants less in comparison to 1991. This is by far the most important information. We need to find a reason why do we have 800,000 citizens less. Hundreds of thousands of these residents will be attributed to forced migrations, killings during the war, but since 1996 until 2016 – people have been continuously leaving BiH. This process must be stopped if we do not want BiH to become a weekend country and let our citizens from around the world come only during their holidays and spend time with their parents who are retired.
(Source: novovrijeme.ba)