On 23 February 2022, the tenth joint data collection exercise was conducted by IOM Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), together with the Service for Foreigners’ Affairs (SFA), and the support of the Red Cross (RC) of the Federation of BiH (FBiH) and of the entity of Republika Srpska (RS) to collect information on the number of migrants and asylum-seekers2 present in the country. The purpose of the regular exercise was to provide an estimation of the migrant population (stock) that was not accommodated or registered in any official Temporary Reception Centres (TRCs) at any given date. Fourteen teams were deployed for a total of 46 enumerators (33 males and 13 females), plus 11 SFA staff (7 males and 4 females), 13 RC staff, 2 (2 males) from FBiH and 11 from RS (9 males and 2 females). The data collection exercise was implemented in 7 Cantons of the FBiH and in 50 locations in RS entity. A total of 245 locations in 49 different municipalities were visited: 81 locations in 4 municipalities in Una-Sana Canton, 47 locations in 6 municipalities in Sarajevo Canton, 36 locations in 10 municipalities in Tuzla Canton, 22 locations in 5 municipalities in Herzegovina – Neretva Canton, 4 locations in 4 municipalities in West Herzegovina Canton, 3 locations in 1 municipality in Bosnian Podrinje Goražde Canton, 2 locations in 2 municipalities in Canton 10, 10 locations in Višegrad, 8 locations in Zvornik, in Bijeljina and Kozarska Dubica 4 location in each, in Foca and Vlasenica 3 location in each, in Banja Luka, Bratunac, Gradiška, Novi Grad, Rogatica, Sokolac, Srbac 2 location in each, and in Milici, Kostajnica, Han Pijesan and Prijedor 1 location per each (see Map on p.2).
DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE AND LOCALIZATION
The total number of migrants observed in the locations covered was 386, out of which 385 stated that they were not accommodated in any of the official TRCs in BiH.
The number of migrants observed in round 10 remains relatively low, in line with the previous round. This can be partly explained by the winter season characterized by low temperatures but also by dynamics related to migrant routes. For the first time, the Red Cross of Republika Srpska (RS) took part in the data collection exercise, increasing the number of staff deployed. Furthermore, as the number of locations visited in Round 10 increased from 205 to 245, thanks to a mapping exercise conducted by IOM in the Canton of Sarajevo which aimed to identify additional locations where migrants tend to habitually reside, the percentage of locations found empty decreased from 74 to 71 per cent. Lastly, as in the previous rounds, the number of migrants who declared that they are not hosted in any reception centre represents almost 100 per cent in Round 10.
Afghanistan (36.1%) and Pakistan (24.1%) are the two main declared nationalities4 of the observed persons residing outside of TRCs in BiH, followed by Iraq (9.6%), Morocco (8.3%) and Algeria (7.7%). Other declared nationalities include the Islamic Republic of Iran (4.6%), Cuba (2.8%), Egypt (1.8%), Turkey (1%), and India, Colombia, Guinea, Libya, the Gambia and Ghana with less than 1 per cent each. Compared to the previous round, Afghan nationals increased by three per cent, while Pakistani nationals decreased by more than six per cent. There was also a significant increase in the number of migrants from Algeria by more than seven per cent and from Cuba, which is the seventh nationality mapped during the exercise. Eighteen per cent (2) of the Cubans mapped are children below 18 years of age, all boys.
Sex and age disaggregated data show that most migrants outside TRCs are adult males (319), representing 83 per cent of the total migrant population identified followed by boys (28), adult females (22) and girls (16).
Source: International Organization for Migration