As part of its regular monitoring of the situation in the field of human rights, the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina has produced the Analysis of the Status of Asylum Seekers in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Aliens, particularly asylum seekers, are included in the vulnerable categories of population and their rights are violated more frequently than rights of other citizens.

International conventions guaranteeing rights of asylum seekers and aliens are in force in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Convention relating to the Status of Refugees from 1951 and its Protocol from 1967 are some of the international documents that Bosnia and Herzegovina has been obliged to apply. Apart from the international documents, the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Law on Movement and Stay of Aliens and Asylum regulate the status and rights of aliens in accordance with the highest standards of human rights and liberties. Nevertheless, as in some other fields, the Helsinki Committee has observed an obvious gap between the constitutional and legislative regulations on one side and the actual situation in the field on the other. 

The main deficiencies are demonstrated by the lack of by-laws that would ensure full implementation of the existing legislation. Apart from that, synchronized work of all institutions working on migration and asylum issues has not been achieved yet. The Ministry of Security, the Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees and the ministries of interior have not yet established a coordinated and harmonized approach to aliens and asylum seekers. 

Bosnia and Herzegovina still lacks a specialized institution for reception of asylum seekers. The Rakovica Reception Centre accommodates refugees and the so-called temporarily admitted persons, alongside with asylum seekers. The living conditions in the Reception Centre are not in compliance with international standards. The facilities are untended and worn out. The hygiene is poor and food insufficient and monotonous. An issue of particular concern is the fact that that the Reception Centre accommodates 32 children under conditions that do not meet children’s basic needs. 

The Helsinki Committee recommends to the competent state and entity ministries to adopt the necessary by-laws for true implementation of the Law on Movement and Stay of Aliens. It is also necessary to provide budget means for implementation of the Law and to staff and technically equip institutions for reception of asylum seekers. Finally, duties of institutions working on issues of migration, such as the State Border Service, the police, the Ministry of Security and the reception centre staff, need to be clarified. 

The Helsinki Committee has concluded that the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina still have many obligations ahead in order for aliens and asylum seekers to enjoy in our country the rights guaranteed to them by international standards and domestic constitutional and legislative provisions. 

Fil: Analysis – Status of asylum seekers in Bosnia and Herzegovina (July 2005)