The future rests with the young, is an old saying. However, who will be left with Bosnia and Herzegovina when the data on the departure of young people from Bosnia and Herzegovina are increasingly devastating. We talked to young people from different cities in BiH and asked – how they see their future here and what is it that is taking them away from BiH.
The young people who remained in Bosnia and Herzegovina hope that the authorities and competent institutions will make additional efforts to bring Bosnia and Herzegovina into the European Union. However, young people in Tuzla point out that it is high time to stop discouraging young people in these areas.
Young people in Banja Luka want to stay in their city, but they also want the authorities to pay more attention to them.
Better living conditions, above all in education. Young people in the Una-Sana canton also wish for it.
In Bijeljina, young people are not optimistic at all when it comes to staying in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, young people do not see anything concrete that the authorities have done to keep them in their country.
We can all see from the perspective of the young, but also the elderly, what the conditions are here for both schooling and education. I will be forced like most of the others young people to leave Bosnia and Herzegovina. I think that it would take a little, either to change the government or to do something about it, to ensure a better life for young people, as is offered to young people in the West.
And official data shows that in the last ten years, there are thirty percent fewer students in all primary, secondary schools and colleges in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Unemployment of the population in Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the most pressing problems, and youth unemployment has reached a level of almost 40 percent.
Research has shown that the inability to find a job is the main reason why the young population is constantly moving out of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
According to “The Economist” magazine, BiH is at the top of the list with the largest brain drain, and the fact that even 51.3 percent of young people are interested in leaving BiH is worrying.
Numerous reasons
The youth unemployment rate in Bosnia and Herzegovina is even four times higher than in the countries of the European Union.
There are many reasons for this, and some of them are hidden in the fact that the country was faced with a not very successful process of economic transition. There is also the issue of an inadequate education system that has not been modernized, as well as low incomes.
Also, the data indicate that the most common reasons for leaving are the unstable political situation and the belief in a greater possibility of success, and there is no single strategy that would specify the priorities for improving the living conditions of young people in order for the state to keep them in the country.
Youth unemployment is 38.3 percent
When it comes to youth employment (from 15 to 24 years old), data from the BiH Statistics Agency show that the youth unemployment rate is 38.3 percent. Before the pandemic, the unemployment rate had a constant and stable downward trend.
The Institute for Youth Development KULT conducted a survey on the position of youth in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the data they shared with Fena says that young people believe that the priorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina should authorities in the next five years should be employment and education.
They also point out that the legislation in the field of the labor market does not follow the trends in which young people today find jobs and ensure their existence, for example, freelance jobs, lack of classification of new occupations.
Poor standard
The research clearly showed that young people no longer leave Bosnia and Herzegovina only because of economic conditions, but because of a generally poor standard of living and insecurity for their family in terms of a stable social environment in which they can build a family, a lack of concrete social progress in various areas and retrograde political processes.
“Successful, ambitious, employed young people who want to build their careers, family and life in better social conditions are leaving BiH more and more often, and which they very often find in some of the more developed countries,” they say from KULT.
The fact that 40 percent of the young people included in the research stated that a member of their immediate family left Bosnia and Herzegovina in the last seven years is also worrying, and that departures most often take place in non-urban areas.
Also, the results show that more than 50 percent of those surveyed have an interest in leaving Bosnia and Herzegovina, while 12.1 percent of them have already taken concrete steps in that direction.
3,132 respondents from all over BiH participated
3,132 respondents from all over Bosnia and Herzegovina participated in the Survey on the situation of young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina, of whom 51.8 percent were women and 48.1 percent were men, between the ages of 15 and 30, from suburban and urban areas. The average age of the respondents is 22.14 years.
According to the preliminary results of that research, 50 percent of young people are willing to start their own business, but they say that they do not have the opportunity to do so, while 13 percent of them have undertaken certain activities to start their own business or have already started a business.
Also, more than 50 percent of young people believe that they primarily need financial resources, and in the second place, about 16 percent of them say that they need professional or mentoring support in running these businesses.
Among the numerous data of the research is the fact that more than 65 percent of young people live in households with their parents, and 44.7 percent of them cannot contribute to the household budget.
Despite the many problems that our country has, one of the biggest is the mass exodus of young people. It is estimated that Bosnia and Herzegovina loses one city every year.
It’s better to wish for her than to feel sorry for her, says Samir Džinović as he sends his daughter off to Germany. Young people with suitcases and a one-way ticket are an everyday sight at the bus station in Bihać.
“How do I look? You see the situation, everyone would like to see their children by their side, that’s normal, but the living conditions are non-existent. The standard is absolutely zero. And it’s normal that it’s difficult for all of us when we have to send them away from our country,” Džinović tells.
Although the primary motive for leaving is economic, Isnad Smajlović, who has a master’s degree in pharmacy, does not want to leave just for that reason. Political tensions that create a gloomy and insecure environment are constantly recurring.
“Many people mention the salary when they leave, but it is not a decisive factor. I am simply driven by the state of the country, constant uncertainty, political instability. A large number of my friends have gone to Germany. The impressions are positive, the system is much more organized, it is much easier to work your job in the profession. You are doing what you were trained for,” emphasizes Master of Pharmacy.
Studies do not give cause for optimism. Young people leave, but also those in their most productive years from 30 to 39. Employers also feel it. Edita Beganović, who is the owner of the pharmacy, finds it increasingly difficult to reach workers, and those from larger cities have a hard time deciding whether to come to a smaller one.
“And when I talk to the Employment Agency, my question to them is – Sarajevo and Tuzla are not different countries. We are asking for help, that those people sitting there at the office, who work for much less conditions than Bihać gives for a Master of Pharmacy because we are in trouble, it is ideal for people to help the institutions”, believes the owner of the pharmacy, Edita Beganović.
And until radical changes take place, Bosnia and Herzegovina will continue to lose its most valuable resource – people. Without a clear vision of how to retain people who want more than survival, Bosnia and Herzegovina will certainly have a hard time stopping the trend of young people emigrating.
