Politicians rarely comment on the departure of the population from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Are they concerned about the fact that hundreds of thousands of able-bodied, educated and young people, as well as complete families, have left BiH in the last few years? A large number of departures are recorded daily by the Una-Sana Canton (USC), which is the leader in this infamous statistics.
SURVEY
“People are moving for a better life, that is the reason.”
“They don’t have the employment opportunity, the greater opportunity can be found abroad, as well as better salaries.”
There are no prospects, the statistics are relentless and worrying. In the past year and the first two months of this year, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of USC issued more than 11.400 police clearance certificates, most of which are for employment abroad.
“Either they may study abroad or they intend to leave BiH at this time and look for employment in countries of the European Union (EU),” told Alen Siljdedic, spokesperson for the USC Police Administration.
”Every month or two, a student approaches me and informs me that he has to leave school because he has to go abroad with his parents. Mom or dad go first, and then the children join, ” said Jasmin Hodzic, director of the Bihac Gymnasium.
Not even the coronavirus pandemic managed to prevent people from leaving the USC. Whole families are leaving, and precisely because of that, schools in Bihac have recorded a smaller number of students in the last few years.
“Greater opportunities for studying, better universities, better education system, better jobs and opportunities, everything that our state does not provide,” stated Sarah Budimlic, student of the Bihac High School.
“Percentages of corruption are much lower, employment is easier, opportunities for advancement are much better,” said Dalila Majetic, student of the Bihac High School.
The consequences of this are long lists of teachers who are redundant, which is why they often leave a precarious job and move to a new, safer life.
“Even though they currently have 10-15 hours in the teaching, they are thinking that in 4 years they will not have even 5. So, people start the procedure of nostrification and recognition of diplomas and departure for Germany, Austria. We used to have 4 classes that go to the 6th grade, nowadays there are only two, ” told Belmana Trivunic, director of the Elementary School “Harmani I” Bihac.
People with crafts are leaving, as well as highly educated citizens, which means people of different profiles are leaving. In the countries of Western Europe, they are valuable, above all esteemed workers, while in our country they are only seasonal budget fillers. If the authorities would deal with this issue more than with keeping their comfortable seats and functions, the situation in BiH would certainly be much better, BHRT writes.
E.Dz.