UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, in cooperation with its partner, the Vasa prava BiH Association, has launched a free counselling line to facilitate access to information and legal counsel for asylum seekers in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The toll-free telephone line 0800/222-25, managed by Vasa prava BiH, is an important step in strengthening communications and improving access to services in situations where the possibility of in-person counselling could be challenging.

“At UNHCR, we believe that everyone has a right to seek asylum if they fled from persecution, and this call centre is one of many ways we are working particularly during the COVID pandemic, during COVID to diversify the ways people can access information, support, and legal advice on the asylum process in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” said Stephanie Woldenberg, UNHCR Senior Protection Officer in BiH.

Calls are answered in real-time every working day from 8 am to 8 pm. Still, the automated messaging system in six different languages, including English, Farsi, Pashto, Urdu, Arabic, and Kurdish, is available 0/24 every day of the week.

“It is important to mention that Vasa prava BiH apart from this call centre, provides face-to-face counselling. Also, the lawyers of the association, with their regular visits to reception centres and other places where people on the move reside, regularly provide legal assistance to those people who need it,” said Emir Prcanovic, Executive Director of the Association Vasa prava BiH.

In addition to the Call Centre, persons on the move can directly contact the Vasa Prava BiH Association on Viber/WhatsApp numbers 061/102-034 and 061/102-035 for the Sarajevo Canton, and numbers 061/952-729, 061/952-747 for the Una-Sana Canton, and also obtain information through the UNHCR portal help.unhcr.org/bosniaandherzegovina/ and the website www.vasaprava.org.

The toll-free telephone line has been established thanks to the European Union co-financing under the project “Addressing the Challenges Related to COVID-19 within the Migrant/Refugee Response in the Western Balkans”.