The countries of the Western Balkans are recording an increasing influx of migrants moving along the so-called “Balkan route” in the last months of this year, and the largest number of migrants passing through Bosnia and Herzegovina are from Afghanistan, Burundi, Pakistan, Iran and Cuba, although BiH has a legally regulated visa regime with these countries.
Other nationalities in terms of representation are Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, Bangladesh, DR Congo, Syria and Yemen, and of these countries, only citizens of Turkey can enter BiH without a visa and stay in the country for up to 90 days.
Citizens of these countries must have a visa when entering, exiting, or crossing the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which indicates that BiH’s visa regime in no way contributes to the increase in the number of migrants who move illegally.
Currently, about 1,521 migrants are registered in the reception centers, and about 896 migrants reside outside the official reception centers while a large part of them are in border areas, especially in the border areas with the European Union (Croatia), since the majority of migrants see Bosnia and Herzegovina as a transit country.
According to the latest data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 23,000 migrants passed through BiH this year, which is almost at the level of the number that passed through the country in 2018, while in 2019, more than 29,000 migrants passed through the country.
IOM’s return and reintegration team provides administrative, logistical and financial support, including reintegration assistance, to migrants who decide to return to their country of origin, and BiH currently has a state agreement on readmission only with Pakistan.
IOM assisted in the voluntary return of 1,313 migrants in 2018, while this year it was done for 117 people.
Migration flows are complex and are influenced by many factors, and the implementation of the agreement signed with Pakistan began this year when BiH authorities returned the first migrants to Pakistan, IOM told FENA.
“We believe that readmission arrangements that comply with international standards are an integral part of sustainable migration management. Therefore, cooperation between the countries of origin, transit and destination, also in the form of agreements on readmission by international obligations, is essential for managing migration in a humane and prescribed manner,” the IOM stated.
Citizens of countries that do not require a visa to enter and stay in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina for up to 90 days are Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Montenegro, Chile, Guatemala, Honduras, Croatia, Israel, Japan, Costa Rica, Republic of Korea, Qatar, Cyprus, Kuwait, North Macedonia, Malaysia, Malta, Order of Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Nicaragua, New Zealand, Panama, Paraguay, Palestine, El Salvador, Singapore, Holy See, Serbia, Turkey, Taiwan, PR China, Uruguay and Venezuela, and none of these countries is marked as risky, from which a large number of migrants come.
This week, the European Commission urged the Western Balkans countries to ensure further alignment with the EU visa policy.
