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SARAJEVO, April 12 (FENA) - The growing trend of emigration of highly educated staff and the population in general from Bosnia and Herzegovina is reaching alarming proportions, and recently this has been particularly characteristic for health and information and communication technology (ICT) sectors.
Although there are no precise statistics and exact data on the outflow of young professionals from BiH, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has recognized this problem and conducted a survey in partnership with BiH institutions to gather evidence on the emigration of health and ICT professionals.
In this regard, the study "Emigration of Health and ICT Professionals from BiH" was presented in Sarajevo today to identify the causes of this phenomenon and its impact on economic development, education, demographic structure, investment and other relevant development aspects.
Minister of Civil Affairs of BiH Ankica Gudeljević attended the presentation and emphasized that the results of this research can be helpful to creators and decision makers in developing new policies in this area.
Gudeljević recalled several key lines of action identified in the study, including strengthening institutional capacity for collection, analysis, use and exchange of data on labor migration in the country and abroad.
„It is necessary to find an adequate way to discourage migration, i.e. the departure of labor force outside BiH in all sectors,” said Gudeljević, giving priority to investing in domestic production and creating new jobs.
Subregional Coordinator for the Western Balkans and IOM Bosnia and Herzegovina Chief of Mission, Laura Lungarotti, told reporters that young and educated people are the most important resource of any country, and that their departure is an alarm for the authorities.
She brought the migration of health workers from BiH to the context of the current coronavirus pandemic, and described ICT experts as very important for the overall development, believing that the results of the study will contribute to the betterment of the state and reduce the outflow of labor force in these and other areas.
Lungarotti stressed the need to maintain contact with young people who have emigrated from BiH, and to ensure the transfer of knowledge and skills.
Referring to the causes of migration, she said that their motives are not only related to economic aspects, but also to the lifestyle, i.e. the system itself, and the growing distrust in government institutions.
Commenting on the press inquiry regarding indicators that would illustrate the situation in the mentioned sectors, Lungarotti said that, unfortunately, there are no valid records in BiH, nor a system that would give an accurate insight in that regard.
She added that it is known that about two million people who currently live abroad have emigrated from BiH, stating that the problem of labor migration can be illustrated by the fact that since 2019, about 55,000 work permits have been issued to BiH citizens from European Union member states.
The presentation of the mentioned study was realized within the IOM project "Contribution to evidence-based migration policies for the health and ICT sector in BiH".
(FENA) A. B.
