Eurasia Press & News
The EU, US and the OHR have urged Bosnia’s authorities to adopt a residence law at state-level and assure that returnee rights are respected, following unilateral action on the subject in Republika Srpska.
The EU delegation to Bosnia, the US embassy and the Office of the High Representative. OHR, have voiced concern about the politicization of the issue of residence in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
‘Unilateral attempts to regulate this matter at entity level, such as the RS’s recent decision on ‘verifying the accuracy and truthfulness of data when applying for permanent residence’, go beyond existing legislation and are not acceptable,’ the statement on May 8 read.
This referred to the April decision of the Republika Srpska government to regulate residency on it own after the issue became stuck in Bosnia’s state-level parliament owing to a lack of political agreement.
‘Regulation of residency is a state-level issue and requires a political and legal solution at that level,’ the international bodies said. ‘At the same time, the rights of returnees to return and the freedom of movement of all citizens of BiH must be respected.’
The move on the part of the Serbian dominated entity has prompted claims that it is violating the rights of citizens, especially the rights of Bosniak returnees in the entity.
Under the April decision, more documents are now required in order to register a residence in Republika Srpska.
The authorities said the change was made due to security concerns and because they could not wait any longer for state-level lawmakers to agree changes of the law.
Checks on residence in Republika Srpska have already left hundreds of citizens without after police conducted door-to-door visits and did not find them at home.
The EU, US and OHR joint statement on Thursday said that standards must be uniform across the entire territory of Bosnia and that state-level laws had to be respected and all citizens treated equally, ‘without any form of discrimination.
‘It is equally unacceptable for other political actors to block the functioning of state institutions, such as the BiH House of Peoples, thus preventing the normal democratic interplay between various interests that would enable compromises for potential amendments of the law on residence to be found,’ the statement said.
This referred to the Bosniak caucus in parliament, which blocked reform earlier this year.
Bosniak MPs blocked adoption of the law at the beginning of the year, claiming that the way it was being proposed would violate the rights of returnees.
After months in which no sessions were held, the House of Peoples held a session at the end of April but still did not have the disputed law on its agenda.
The Republika Srpska authorities have stood by their decision regarding the issue, said action would soon be implemented and that the change would remain valid until a state-level law was adopted.
