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Bosnia deports migrants back to Pakistan

Of the total migrants registered by Bosnian authorities, nearly 76 per cent come from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh…reports Asian Lite News

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH) has deported the first group of Pakistani migrants back to their home country, said the Ministry of Security of BiH.

BiH thus became the first country on the western Balkans migration route to deport migrants without residence permits, Xinhua news agency reported.

The deportation process was enabled due to the Readmission Agreement, signed between BiH and Pakistan in November 2020, and the protocol on implementation of this agreement that came into force in July 2021, the Ministry added on Sunday.

The deportation “demonstrates the determination of BiH to oppose all forms of illegal migrations and send back all who don’t meet requirements for receiving international protection,” said the Ministry.

More groups are expected to be deported soon, the Ministry added.

Since 2015, thousands of refugees and migrants have been trying to make their way into the countries of the European Union (EU) through the Balkan Route, one of the main migratory paths into Europe.

A total of 3,865 migrants have been registered in BiH in the January-April period, about five per cent less year-on-year. Of the total migrants registered by Bosnian authorities, nearly 76 per cent come from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, according to the Ministry.

A total of 1,433 people tried to enter BiH illegally over the first four months of this year, a drop of 32 per cent from the same period last year, according to the Border Police of BiH.

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Bosnia to wipe out statelessness by end of 2022

In February this year, BiH created the necessary legal framework that will help people born abroad by Bosnian nationals, but do not have relevant documents…reports Asian Lite News

 Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) could eradicate statelessness by 2022, two years earlier than planned, said Lucie Gagne, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representative in BiH.

According to the United Nations, stateless persons are those who are not recognized as nationals by any state under its law, which prevents them from equally participating in social life and enjoying a series of human rights such as health care, education, or marriage, Xinhua news agency reported.

UNHCR started a global Ibelong Campaign in 2014, planning to eradicate statelessness by 2024. To date, the problem has been solved for more than 800,000 people around the world, explained Gagne in her interview to the state owned news agency FENA on Saturday

She added that 1,795 people in BiH solved their problem of statelessness since the start of the campaign and the country has some 150 more people in this category.

She explained that the majority of them are Roma, especially those born abroad by Bosnian parents but without relevant documents to prove it. The second large group are refugees who arrived from Croatia during the war in 1990s and still live in a legal limbo, unable to solve their legal status in BiH.

She hoped that by the end of 2024 world nations will solve this issue affecting more than 10 million people across the globe.

In February this year, BiH created the necessary legal framework that will help people born abroad by Bosnian nationals, but do not have relevant documents about the exact place and time of their birth, she said.

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