Serbs in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) entity feel unsafe and at times it seems that African and Asian migrants have a better status than Serbs living there, Head of the Association of refugees and displaced Serbs of the Republika Srpska (RS) entity, Ignjat Simic during a Friday press conference in Sarajevo.

“Serb returnees in the FBiH would be quite satisfied if they could enjoy 50 percent of the rights Bosniaks and Croats enjoy in the RS,” he said. “Twenty-four years after the war, devastated Serb settlements can still be found across the FBiH, where 80 percent of Serb property, churches and graveyards, were either destroyed or damaged.”

After the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia, the country consists of two semi-autonomous entities, the Bosniak and Croat dominated Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Serb dominated Republika Srpska. Returnees to both entities constantly complain of rights abuses, saying that neither of the two governments are doing enough to protect them and their properties. 

According to Simic, not a single municipality in the FBiH exists where there are no devastated Serb settlements or “hidden administrative obstacles,” standing in the way of Serbs achieving their fundamental human rights.

“We’re only missing signs saying ‘No Serbs allowed in the FBiH’,” Simic added at a press conference organised by the Organisation of Serb Associations in the FBiH.

He called on all institutions in the FBiH and RS, as well as media outlets, to focus on helping improve the status of Serbs in the FBiH because more and more of them are considering leaving the country and living somewhere abroad.