Over 100 BiH nationals still await repatriation from Syria

According to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Ministry of Security, 118 citizens of BiH are still in refugee camps in Syria.

As reported on Tuesday by Nezavisne novine (Banja Luka), this includes 52 adults - 22 men and 30 women - as well as 66 minors, mostly their children.

They are currently held in the Al-Hol and Roj refugee camps or in separate detention units in northern Syria.

The United Nations estimates that after the fall of ISIL in Syria and Iraq, more than 8,500 foreign nationals from at least 60 countries remained in the region. The UN has called on these countries to repatriate their citizens. Bosnia and Herzegovina accepted this obligation, but the last round of repatriation happened in December 2019 to a group, when 25 individuals - seven men, six women, and 12 children - were brought back to BiH.

All male repatriates were handed over to the State Prosecutor’s Office on suspicion of having fought for Islamist terrorist groups.

According to data compiled by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), courts in Bosnia and Herzegovina have so far convicted 34 individuals for Syria-related terrorism offences, with sentences ranging from four to eight years in prison.

The Ministry of Security says it does not yet know when the remaining citizens will return, highlighting that the repatriation process is complex and requires cooperation between domestic and international institutions and organisations.

"The Council of Ministers of BiH has adopted a repatriation plan and a programme for the reintegration, rehabilitation, and resocialisation of citizens returning from conflict zones in Syria and Iraq, in order to ensure the necessary conditions for a safe, humane, and controlled return of BiH nationals… When that will happen, however, remains uncertain," the ministry said in a statement.