Bosnia and Herzegovina — MIGRANT PRESENCE OUTSIDE TEMPORARY RECEPTION CENTRES — Round 01 (17 March 2021)

On 17 March 2021, a first joint pilot data collection exercise was conducted by IOM Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), together with the Service for Foreigners’ Affairs (SFA), to collect information on the number of migrants,2 asylum seekers present in the country. The purpose of the exercise was to provide an estimation of the migrant population (stock) that has not been accommodated or registered in any official Temporary Reception Centres (TRCs) at a given point in time. Ten teams were established for a total of 36 enumerators, out of which 17 were males and 19 females. The data collection exercise was implemented in 4 Cantons, for a total of 76 locations: 46 locations in 8 Municipalities in Una-Sana Canton, 17 locations in 6 Municipalities in Canton Sarajevo, 5 locations in one Municipalities in Herzegovina – Neretva Canton, and 16 locations in 12 Municipalities in Tuzla Canton.

The total number of migrants identified in the locations covered was 1,927 out of which 1,754 stated that they were not accommodated in any of official TRCs in BiH. Afghanistan (42%) and Pakistan (29%) are the two nationalities with the highest number of persons outside of TRCs in BiH. Overall, these two national groups make up 71 per cent of total migrants without accommodation in TRCs. Other nationalities include Morocco, Algeria, Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Papua New Guinea, Syrian Arab Republic, Palestinian Territories, Somalia and Sudan.