Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) experienced a substantial increase in mixed movement arrivals from 2018 (over 85,000 at the end of 2021). In 2021, the BiH authorities registered the asylum claims of 167 individuals, a 32% decrease from the 245 claims registered in 2020, which was already a significant decrease compared to 2018 (1,572) and 2019 (785). In 2021, most asylum-seekers were coming from Turkey, Afghanistan and Iran.

UNHCR in Bosnia and Herzegovina's main objectives are aimed at strengthening identification and referral of people in need of international protection, access to free legal aid, psychosocial assistance, accommodation and recreational/educational activities for asylum-seekers with specific needs. UNHCR also supports BiH in integrating recognized refugees and persons under subsidiary protection, including upgrading the legal framework.

Furthermore, UNHCR supports the authorities within the Regional Housing Programme – initiated by UNHCR and designed to find solutions for the protracted displacement situation from the conflicts in the nineties.

Since the beginning of UNHCR's global #IBelong campaign in 2014, UNHCR and partners successfully resolved 827 cases of people at risk of statelessness as of the end of 2021. As UNHCR estimates, less than 100 people are currently at risk of statelessness in BiH.