The new building of the Reception Centre for Irregular Migrants in BiH was inaugurated on 23 November 2009 in Istocno Sarajevo. The European Union provided 1.2 million Euro for this project including construction of the Centre, supervision of works, supply of furniture, equipment and vehicles for the transportation of the illegal immigrants to their countries of origin.
„The European Union is not here only to request fulfillement of conditions, but also to actively contribute and help BiH in fulfilling them. This is a true example of the principle of solidarity, which is one of the fundamental principles of the EU, and I am certain that your country, in its accession towards the EU, will benefit more and more from this principle“, stated Ambassador Dimitris Kourkoulas, Head of the European Commission Delegation to BiH.
“This impresive building is a part of the wider assistance of the EU in support to the migration and asylum sectors in BiH. The Center will provide for efficient and effective processing of cases of irregular third country nationals in BiH and the lawfull detention of such categories of foreign nationals in conformity with international and EU standards and practice”, stated Ambassador Kourkoulas, adding that the EU intends to continue the assistance as „we believe that this investment pays off”. “This Project is very important as it is one of the conditions from the Visa Liberalisation Road Map“, stated Ambassador Kourkoulas. He emphasised the positive developments such as adoption of the Law on Movement and Stay of Aliens and Asylum, adoption of the National Migration Strategy 2009-2012 and the Migration Profile for BiH by the Council of Ministers as well as Migration Information System becoming functional in September 2009 and successful implementation of Readmission Agreement between the EU and BiH, as well as efforts in establishing Readmission Agreements with the non-EU countries.
Expressing gratitude to the European Union for the support, Dragan Mektić, Director of the Service for Foreigners Affairs said: “Now we can use the abilities and expertise of the Ministry of Security and Service for Foreigners Affairs in full capacity to controll the movement and the stay of aliens in BiH and execute decisions on removing third country nationals from BiH. We have the capacities to deport the thirds party nationals, who do not wish to leave BiH voluntarily, to any destination in the world, with the escort provided by our staff, but we also have the capacities to accommodate such persons until their return to the country of origin“.
Acting BiH Minister of Security Mijo Krešić also thanked the European Union for the continued assistance to the BiH Institutions. “BiH Ministry of Security has technically fulfilled all conditions from the Road Map. This Project shows how seriously BiH has approached the issue of irregular migrations. We are not making the progress for anybody else but for ourselves. Achieving European security standards represents improved security for our citizens and improved security in the region and Europe”, concluded Krešić.
Around 15 iregular migrants passes through the Centre on a daily basis and thus far there has been around 5.500 overnights. The expansion of the Centre’s capacities will provide better accommodation conditions for the iregular migrants prior to making decision on their return to the countries of origin.
The European Union provided over 7 million Euro assistance to strengthen the capacities of BiH Ministry of Security, its Asylum and Migration sectors as well as the Service for Foreigners Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
