EU to allocate Half a Million Euros to BiH for Readmission of illegal Migrants

The EU will allocate half a million euros from the new accession funds for the readmission of illegal migrants from Bosnia and Herzegovina to their countries of origin, Sasa Kecman, advisor to the Minister of Security in the Council of Ministers, told Srna news agency.

According to him, it is not known when the funds will be operational, but the procedure for spending them is known.

“BiH cannot directly receive these funds, but they go from the EU to the International Organization for Migration /IOM/, which, when it receives them, buys plane tickets and finances everything else necessary for the readmission of illegal migrants,” explained Kecman.

He stated that the Ministry of Security of BiH, in coordination with the Service for Affairs with Foreigners, agrees with donors to provide financial resources for the return of migrants to their countries of origin, given that BiH does not have funds for these purposes.

“We are working on securing the funds and we are very close to it,” said Kecman, adding that the readmission procedure is operationally carried out by the Service for Affairs with Foreigners, which also provides escorts for migrants returning to their countries of origin.

He reminded that BiH Security Minister Selmo Cikotic, with the approval of the BiH Presidency, signed an agreement on readmission with Pakistan two years ago.

“We are determined to implement that agreement, so that it does not remain a letter on paper without implementation in practice,” said Kecman and added that at the beginning of this month, based on the agreement on readmission to Pakistan, two citizens of this country who were illegally staying in Bosnia and Herzegovina were deported.

After the legal requirements were met, the return was organized by a commercial airline, and the migrants, according to the prescribed procedure, were accompanied by officials of the Service for Foreigners, which further increases the costs of readmission.

The Ministry of Security, in addition to the implementation of the readmission agreement with Pakistan, is planning to remove illegal migrants to Bangladesh and Morocco in the near future.

Kecman points out that readmission has a preventive effect on deterring the arrival of illegal migrants in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is also confirmed by the decrease in the number of illegal migrants from Pakistan since the agreement on readmission with this country.

Migration management, the adviser in the Ministry of Security reminded the Council of Ministers, is one of the 14 priorities that the European Commission has set for BiH on its way to the EU.

“A few years ago, international organizations were the main ones in the management of migration in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but since two years ago, that has changed,” said Kecman.

According to him, about 2,000 migrants are currently staying in the camps in BiH and the situation regarding this issue is under control.

“We will never be able to stop migration, but it is important to manage and control it, so that it does not become a problem like a few years ago when cities were overloaded,” added Kecman.

He announced that the “Migration Dialogue” conference will be held in Sarajevo in September, the focus of which will be on readmission.

“Our plan is to bring to the conference the ministers of interior affairs of the countries of the Western Balkans and some other European countries, as well as more widely, to discuss the return and the possibilities of finding funds for these purposes, that is, how we could provide a charter flight from Sarajevo for 50 migrants. suddenly return to the country of origin,” concluded Kecman.