Population figures
Total country population
3,194,378
Forcibly displaced population
Refugees (under UNHCR's mandate):
437
Asylum-seekers:
136
IDPs (of concern to UNHCR):
91,223
Other people in need of international protection:
0
Other
Statelessness persons
5
Host community
0
Others of concern to UNHCR
1,441
Country context
Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is a country located in Southeastern Europe, bordered by Croatia to the north, west, and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast. The country’s complex administrative structure consists of two entities: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Srpska, alongside the Brčko District.
BiH is a Party to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, by succession, since 1993. BiH is also a Party to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, by succession, since 1993. BiH adopted a new Law on Foreigners in 2015 and a Law on Asylum in 2016. While the Law on Asylum guarantees asylum seekers the right to adequate reception conditions, in particular with respect to accommodation, to food, primary health care, primary and secondary education, as well as free legal aid and psycho-social support, several gaps remain.
...For instance, the Law on Asylum requires asylum seekers to fill in an intention to seek asylum and then make a formal application. Refugee status also requires formal recognition by the Ministry of Security. The Law on Asylum maintains extended clauses on exclusion and cessation of refugee status. Moreover, under the Law on Asylum, persons with subsidiary protection do not have access to family reunification and travel documents. In 2022, the Migration and Asylum Strategy was adopted, which provides the measures and activities aimed at improving the system of comprehensive migration and asylum management.
BiH does not grant Temporary Protection status to Ukrainians fleeing the war. Instead, the authorities facilitated the entry and residence of Ukrainian citizens in Bosnia and Herzegovina “on humanitarian grounds”, granting them a status that does not offer access to any basic rights (health, education, work, etc.). This status does not allow Ukrainian refugees to legally access the labour market and become self-sustainable, leaving them fully dependent on humanitarian aid.
BiH made a pledge at the OSCE-UNHCR Regional Conference on Access to Civil Documentation and Prevention of Statelessness in South-Eastern Europe that took place in Skopje on 17 October 2023, through which the country agreed to submit the following pledge in the context of the 2023 Global Refugee Forum: “to make all necessary efforts, independently and collectively, to resolve, without delay, all known cases of statelessness within their territories, including by granting citizenship to or confirming the citizenship of existing in situ stateless populations when relevant legally required conditions, as set out by the Statelessness Conventions, are met, and undertake the law reforms, that may be needed, to ensure that no child is born stateless.”
A large number of internally displaced persons are still registered in the country, one third of whom are in need of assistance to achieve durable solutions. Internally displaced persons are facing challenges accessing healthcare, social protection, adequate housing, employment and education. Housing solutions had improved with the adoption of laws on social housing in some parts of the country and the implementation of housing projects, such as the Regional Housing Programme.
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