In 2018, with the support of the European Union (DG ECHO and DG NEAR), IOM opened four new Temporary Reception Centres in Una Sana Canton with the support of the Council of Europe Development Bank, IOM opened one new Temporary Reception Centre in Hadzici Municipality:
Sedra Temporary Reception Centre in Cazin Municipality for families and vulnerable migrants opened in July 2018, Usivak Temporary Reception Centre in Hadzici Municipality primarily for single men, but also for families and vulnerable migrants opened in October 2018.
Bira Temporary Reception Centre in the City of Bihac, primarily for single men opened in October 2018 and Miral Temporary Reception Centre in Velika Kladusa Municipality primarily for single men opened in October 2018, with IOM supporting the site management from November 2018.
Borici Temporary Reception Centre in City of Bihac, families and vulnerable migrants re-opened in December 2018 following complete renovation.
In these centres, supported by the European Union, IOM is providing for the basic needs of migrants, including food, hygiene products, clothes for those with skin diseases, water, sanitation and hygiene facilities (toilets and showers), 24/7 IOM centre management staff, and 24/7 cleaning, maintenance and security personnel.
IOM is also responsible for CCCM – Centre Coordination and Centre Management, in support of and in close cooperation with the Service for Foreigners’ Affairs (the Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina).
Bosnia and Herzegovina divides migration competences among a large number of agencies and though the capacity exists, there is a need to reinforce and enhance existing structures to ensure that the Ministry of Security can liaise promptly and effectively with the EU and other relevant stakeholders.
There is thus a need to strengthen mechanisms for collecting, sharing, and analysing data, and to augment the sharing of information. The strengthening of a structure to serve as point of reference for the EU and other relevant counterparts to attain any information pertaining to migration in BH, as well as an overview of the general situation in the country, would not only serve to enhance communication and efficiency, but also the coherence of migration management, ensuring that all state and non-state actors in BH are able to pursue a consistent agenda.
Building on existing structures of the Ministry of Security, such as the Sector for Immigration, this structure should not be operational, but rather focus on the collection, processing, and analysis of data from all relevant institutions, in order to produce reports and analysis on migration issues. These should be then distributed to all competent bodies in the Ministry of Security and the relevant agencies in order to define policies, enhance strategic planning, and augment operations.
As this strengthened body would be in line with structures existing in the EU and in other countries in the region, such an initiative would assist the process of EU integration as well as enhancing regional cooperation.
The strengthened structure should therefore be supported and capacitated to provide direction with regards to irregular migration as well as security, asylum, and economic migration and development. This would allow policy makers to better understand existing issues and challenges; strengths and weaknesses; and gaps and external needs, in order to create clearly defined baselines for formulating realistic and reasonable implementation plans for national risk assessments, for the effective functioning of the migration management system.
