IOM in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH)

Bosnia and Herzegovina is located at a migration crossroad between Eastern and Western Europe. The conflict in the former Yugoslavia from 1992 to 1995 destroyed the social and economic infrastructure and forced over half of BiH citizens to leave their homes. Today, the return of displaced persons and a rise in illegal migration, such as human trafficking and smuggling, make migration a major challenge for BiH’s post-conflict recovery and development.

IOM initiated a mission in Sarajevo in 1992 in the basement of Koševo Hospital, setting up the MEDEVAC programme to evacuate war-wounded individuals who could not be treated locally. Following the end of the war, IOM expanded its activities to the return of refugees from abroad and to assist BiH nationals resettling in third countries. Today, IOM’s programmes aim to prevent irregular migration, stop the trafficking of human beings, contribute to national development and assist the BiH Government to manage migration activities.

Mission statement

IOM is committed to the principle that humane and orderly migration benefits migrants and society.

As the leading international organization for migration, IOM acts with its partners in the international community to:

Assist in meeting the growing operational challenges of migration management,
Advance understanding of migration issues,
Encourage social and economic development through migration, and
Uphold the human dignity and well-being of migrants.

For more information about IOM globaly please click here.

Service Areas

Core service areas constitute our key areas of expertize:

Assisted Returns

Counter Trafficking

Mass Information

Migration Health

Movements

Technical Co-operation

Labor Migration

Emergency and Post-Conflict

To find out more about IOMs projects in BiH/in the various Service areas, please click here.