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Bosnia and Herzegovina

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Country Statistics  
Latest IDP figure:
124,958
... Click here for more
Number of refugees:
(Originating from the country)
78,273 (UNHCR, June 2008)
Total Population:
3,90 million
28 August 2008

Broader and improved support for durable solutions required


bos_cp_aug08
An internally displaced Bosnian girl
near Banovici, January 2008.
(Photo: Reuters/ Damir Sagolj)
Twelve years after the war ended, the State Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees (MHRR) of Bosnia and Herzegovina estimated in June 2008 that some 125,000 registered internally displaced people (IDPs) remain. This figure is likely to remain stable in view of the limited number of returns over the past three years and the lack of support for other durable solutions. Given that possession of IDP status and an expressed intention to return is a precondition to apply for reconstruction assistance, it may not be incidental that the number of IDP families (40,000) corresponds to the number of applications for reconstruction assistance.

Government figures indicate that over one million IDPs and refugees have returned to their homes since the end of the conflict, but the extent to which the figure depicts long-term return is contested. The persistence of the ethnic divide in national political discourse and policies encourages IDPs to remain displaced within areas where they belong to a majority group. (...)

Read full Overview (html / pdf)

Access to database

"Causes and Background","Causes of displacement","Background"
"Population Figures and Profile","General","Global IDP Figures","Disaggregated data"
"Patterns of Displacement","General"
"Physical Security & Freedom of Movement","Physical security","Vulnerable groups","Freedom of movement"
"Subsistence Needs","General","General","Shelter and non-food items","Health","Vulnerable Groups"
"Access to Education","General","Obstacles to education"
"Issues of Self-Reliance and Public Participation","Self-reliance","Public participation"
"Documentation Needs and Citizenship","Documentation needs and legal status of minorities","Citizenship","Legal status of minorities"
"Issues of Family Unity, Identity and Culture","Family unity","Religion","National Identity"
"Property Issues","Overview of restitution process","Specific aspects"
"Patterns of Return and Resettlement","General and policy","Specific aspects ","Resettlement and local integration","Return prospects"
"National and International Responses","Background","Legal framework","International response"

Download full Internal Displacement Profile

Previous Profile updates
Maps 
General Map of Bosnia and Herzegovina
News 
Representative of UN Secretary-General concerned about problems of displaced persons and returnees in Bosnia and Herzegovina, United Nations (UN), 20 June 2008
Bosnia adopts crucial police reforms, BalkanInsight, 11 April 2008
Referendum, a fairy tale that cannot be realized, Office of the High Representative (OHR), 14 March 2008
More
Recent reports 
UNHCR Statistics package, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 30 June 2008
Securing durable solutions for IDPs in Georgia: The experience in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Erin Mooney, 18 June 2008
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, U.S. Department of State (U.S. DOS), 11 March 2008
Report by the Commissioner for human rights on Bosnia and Herzegovina, Council of Europe, Commissioner for Human Rights, 20 February 2008
More
IDMC submission 
Submission from the International Committee for Human Rights (ICHR), the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) and the Minority Rights Group to the Human Rights Committee,
July 2006