In the year-long period during which the Twinning Project of assistance in effective migration management has been implemented, Bosnia and Herzegovina has made real progress, Project Leader Bert Van Hoorn of the Netherlands Justice Ministry’s Immigration and Naturalization Service said in Sarajevo yesterday.

Marking the first anniversary of the launch of the project, Mr Van Horn said it encompasses three components: the first two are analysis of the existing situation and employee training and the third relates to the visa regime and the suppression of illegal activities connected to smuggling of migrants and trafficking in human beings. 

“Visa liberalisation for citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina is also one of the results of this programme,” Mr Van Hoorn said, adding that “this represents a great success for this country, as well as adopting new laws and rule books regarding human trafficking.”

He stressed that there have been no significant difficulties in implementation of the project within an envisaged  duration of 18 months, financed from the EU’s Instrument for Pre-Accession with an overall budget of 750,000 Euros, and implemented by the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the Netherlands and the Danish Immigration Service.

“I am very satisfied with the cooperation with BiH institutions, but I understand the process of adapting the legal framework of Bosnia and Herzegovina to European legal standards is not simple and occasionally this has resulted in difficulties,” Mr Van Hoorn said.

The Twinning Project provides assistance to the BiH ministries of Security, Foreign Affairs, and Human Rights and Refugees and other competent authorities to help manage migration in Bosnia and Herzegovina more effectively.

“The fact is that Bosnia and Herzegovina hasn’t had much to do when it comes to asylum and illegal migration; it is something that we have only encountered in the last ten years or so, and we have had to train a new generation of lawyers and criminologists to deal with these issues,” said  Samir Rizvo, Assistant Minister at the BiH Ministry of Security.

He said that since visa liberalization there has been no increase in numbers of BiH citizens seeking asylum in EU countries. Only one case has been recorded in Sweden, where 12 BiH citizens have previously sought asylum.

“Since visa liberalisation until today, citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina have shown discipline and have shown that they will not create problems in the EU, unlike, unfortunately, some other countries in the Region,” Mr Rizvo said.