Between 25 and 30 citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) fighting under the ISIL flag and their family members, wives and children are awaiting a return to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dragan Mektic, BiH minister of security, told Oslobodjenje newspapers.
Much higher figures were mentioned in the public, and media reports speculated that there were more than a hundred of them in prison camps.
“This is official data, people we know by name and surname,” Mektic said.
According to Mektic, the BiH Ministry of Security is responsible for the issue of readmission, that is, the return of BiH citizens who are staying unreasonably in the territory of another country.
So far, only Ibro Cufurovic from Donja Slapnica near Velika Kladusa, currently in custody, has been deported from Syria to BiH, and has been indicted for involvement in terrorist activities.
It is clear that, like Cufurovic, those who fought on the front lines upon their arrival in BiH will be prosecuted, but the question is what will be the fate of their wives and children.
Asked where women and children will stay in BiH, the minister replies that this depends on a case-by-case.
“If these women have families here, then they will return to them, but they have to provide the evidence that they have not participated in terrorist activities. If they do not have anyone to accept them, there is a center in Salakovac, which is purpose-built, where they could be temporarily housed until they otherwise resolve the issue,” Mektic explains.
The question is also what about the widows of other citizenships and the children they have with our dead citizens.
“If we undoubtedly establish that they are BiH citizens, then we will accept them, and if we do not determine, then we do not accept them, because we have no obligation to receive foreigners. The same applies to children. If they are not registered in the books of BiH citizens, they are not our citizens,” Mektic explained.
