Abstract
In this chapter, we build on diaspora governance literature by examining Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (BiH) attempts to manage the relationship with its diaspora and the development of relevant foreign policy tools within different state-level institutions. We examine this development and general trends from the perspective of state policy, with a particular focus on the foreign policy aspects of institutions’ engagement with diaspora. We focus on official state policies but acknowledge that throughout the last two decades, there have also been non-state- and entity-level attempts to engage with different subsections of the diaspora population, including engagement by political parties in an effort to ensure higher diaspora voter turnout. However, these have been limited and without many demonstrable results. We provide a background on the Bosnian diaspora and contextualize the importance of the homeland—diaspora relationship over time. Ultimately, we examine how there is an increased focus on building stronger relationships toward the diaspora with a particular recognition of this as a foreign policy goal.
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Notes
- 1.
Gerasimos Tsourapas focuses on the ways in which autocracies use migration, particularly labor migration, as a tool of survival and political power in his work.
- 2.
Perhaps most prominent are Republika Srpska’s attempts to foster ties to Bosnian Serb diaspora living abroad.
- 3.
The terms ‘first, second, third generation’ are interchangeable with terms ‘persons born in BiH’ and ‘descendants of persons born in BiH’, and are regularly used in the official reports of the MHRR BIH.
- 4.
The terms ‘conflict-generated’ or ‘conflict-induced’ Bosnian diaspora are used to describe the population who left BiH during the war of 1992–1995 or immediately after this period, and have permanently resided or moved in between third countries, either as first- or second-generation immigrants, regardless of whether they intend to remain there or are planning to return to BiH in the foreseeable future. In other words, the term denotes a heterogeneous group of people who belong to different ethnic and/or religious groups, who left or were forced to leave the newly independent BiH during the war or in the immediate post-war period, and remain settled in third countries, while their activities, motivation, and/or work have a direct, indirect, or reverse effects on the local communities of their origin, lives of local people, or the general socio-political situation in BiH.
- 5.
This is increasingly a topic of interest for both academic and policy discussions. For more information, see Vracic, A. (2018). The Way Back: Brain Drain and Prosperity in the Western Balkans (Policy Brief). European Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved from https://www.ecfr.eu/publications/summary/the_way_back_brain_drain_and_prosperity_in_the_western_balkans
- 6.
The Dayton Peace Agreements have provisions for the return of refugees to their former regions after the end of the conflict. Annex 7 explicitly grants the right to return home safely, regain lost property, or to obtain just compensation among other things.
- 7.
The UNHCR Statistics Database is available at http://popstats.unhcr.org/en/overview
- 8.
According to the 1991 census, BiH had 4,377,033 inhabitants, of which 1,902,950 (43.8%) were Bosniaks, 1,366,104 (31.21%) Serbs, 760,852 (17.38%) Croats, 242,682 (5.54%) Yugoslavs, and 104,439 (2.39%) Others. The 2013 census shows a different demographic image: BiH currently has 3,531,159 inhabitants, of which 2,219,220 live in the Federation (62.85%), 1,228,423 live in Republika Srpska (34.79%), and the remaining 83,516 inhabitants live in Brčko District (2.37%). Ethnic composition of the country has changed, and currently there are 50.11% Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslim), 30.78% Serbs, and 15.43% of Croats (Agency for Statistics of BiH 2016).
- 9.
- 10.
Balkan Barometer 2016 Survey. Available at http://www.rcc.int/seeds/files/RCC_BalkanBarometer_PublicOpinion_2016.pdf
- 11.
According to the IOM records, the majority of Bosnian migrants were originally refugees fleeing the war, one-third of whom are skilled workers, and another third received some form of tertiary education (IOM and IASCI 2010, 15).
- 12.
There are slow-moving institutional changes within the Ministry. Even though there are not nearly as many individuals with refugee status today from BiH—there are close to 2 million diaspora—the number of employees within the ministry remains almost double for the refugee population as opposed to the diaspora population. This is not in line with trends as the number of refugees has decreased, while the number of diaspora member has steadily risen.
- 13.
The full text can be accessed here: http://www.mvp.gov.ba/vanjska_politika_bih/osnovni_pravci_vanjske_politike_bih/default.aspx?id=2
- 14.
The 2001 BiH Election Law provides that all BiH citizens temporarily or permanently residing abroad have to renew their registration for each set of elections in order to vote. These voters have to register with the Central Electoral Committee for each election (both national and local, on average 90 days before the election date). Upon successful registration, voters from abroad have the possibility to apply to vote by post or in diplomatic representations. Active registration has often been criticized as a counterproductive measure, which progressively deters Bosnian diaspora members from exercising their rights. This is why the largest and most influential Bosnian diaspora organizations have been advocating for this law to be amended. There have been notable initiatives such as Prvi Mart that have campaigned in order to maximize voter registration among returnees as well as citizens abroad in the early 2010s.
- 15.
In addition, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) International Observation Committee has identified a number of possible abuses of registration to vote by post and has heard allegations of four different cases, in which voters abroad received packages with ballots for more than one registered voter. These cases are pending with the prosecutor’s office for investigation. The allegations themselves reduced trust in the integrity of the process of voting by post.
- 16.
Central Electoral Committee of BiH.
- 17.
To date, there are three dual citizenship agreements with Croatia, Serbia, and Sweden.
- 18.
There are unfortunately no precise data on the number of individuals who have renounced their citizenship by country as this is not information gathered by the BiH Ministry for Civil Affairs. The assumption is that the number is likely highest for countries such as Germany and Austria where it is a requirement to give up one’s citizenship in order to become a citizen of the aforementioned country.
- 19.
- 20.
The APU Network in Sweden and the BHAAAS in the US were two diaspora associations who also were involved.
- 21.
Participant Observation, Migration and Development Roundtable Event, Sarajevo, May 2014.
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Karabegović, D., Hasić, J. (2019). ‘Protection and Promotion of BiH’s Citizens’ Interests Abroad’: Foreign Policy Relations with Diaspora. In: Hasić, J., Karabegović, D. (eds) Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Foreign Policy Since Independence. New Perspectives on South-East Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05654-4_10
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