Civil society organisations promoting the children's rights urged Bosnia's competent institutions to take urgent measures and secure the conditions for, as they said, adequate adaptation and reintegration of the children of Bosnian nationals currently staying in the war-zones of Iraq and Syria.
A letter signed by senior representatives of three charity organisations, the Hope and Homes for Children, Save the Children, and the World Vision, expressed a grave concern over the status of children of the Bosnian warriors in foreign war-zones, stressing that the children that are accommodated in camps, detention units and homes without parental care both in Syria and Iraq are one of the most jeopardised categories of children in the world.
“Besides the fact that these children are under the control of so-called Islamic State, being either exposed to constant and extreme violence, acute deprivation and difficult trauma, they are still staying in very dangerous environment characterised by active conflicts and a huge number of displaced persons,” said the organisations in an open letter they sent to Bosnian state institutions.
“In line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international documents, we call you to secure urgent and adequate return to the children who are the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina or are the children of the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as their reintegration in the environment where all prescribed rights will be observed,” said the letter.
“The children are not responsible for the actions of their parents and cannot be deprived of their fundamental rights,” said the organisations.