
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Since mid-2018, the route via Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has become one of the most travelled mixed migration routes in the Western Balkans, with more than 112,500 registered arrivals to the country detected by authorities in BiH between January 2018 and December 2022.

Current situation
Refugees, migrants and asylum seekers continue to experience protection and health risks along the Balkan route and in BiH. DRC ensures protection assistance is available for those in need, in and out of reception facilities, and aims to minimize protection risks, including exposure to rights violations, through protection monitoring and GBV Case Management. Furthermore, DRC continues to provide protection assistance to people on the move with medical conditions and their families, including cases with mental health conditions.
Core sectors Bosnia & Herzegovina
Displacement trends
Source: | UNHCR
Why we are there
DRC Danish Refugee Council began working in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in 1992, as one of the first international operations in DRC’s history and one that has distinguished DRC as an international humanitarian responder. With the aim of supporting the BiH authorities in managing increased migration flows and corresponding challenges in the country, DRC re-established its presence in the country in July 2018.
What we do
DRC’s work in BiH today focuses on the following areas of humanitarian response:
- Availability of primary healthcare services in all reception facilities and support for referral to secondary and tertiary health care institutions.
- Significant scale-up of the humanitarian health response - in response to the COVID-19 crisis - through the development of preparedness and response planning, in coordination with the BiH health authorities and other agencies.
- Comprehensive mental health and psychosocial support for asylum-seekers, refugees, and migrants.
- Implementation of standardized protection mechanisms for beneficiaries in reception facilities.
- Provision of emergency life-saving assistance in informal locations, and identification of vulnerable cases for referral to reception facilities, through mobile outreach teams.
- Border Protection Monitoring (BPM), systematically documenting pushbacks and rights violations at the Croatia-BiH border.
Working in collaboration with


European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations

Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
Contact
Sibylle Christina
Aebi
Country Director