Bosnia and Herzegovina

In Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) the Roma population is the largest national minority group, and can be considered migrant-descended. They are now settled, if informally. BiH has received recommendations from the Human Rights Committee, CEDAW, CMW, CRC, and UPR to step up efforts to improve the provision of birth certificates for the Roma. In 2012, the CRC expressed concern about the difficulties encountered by families belonging to ethnic minorities, particularly Roma, due to the lack of translation/interpretation services, as well as birth registration being subject to the immigration status of the child’s parents. This results in the Roma community, which has markedly lower rates of parents possessing the necessary documentation, being disadvantaged. The BiH government has undertaken periodic campaigns to address the exclusion of Roma, partially addressing the problem. Nonetheless, a 2015 CSO submission to CERD indicated that many Roma remain without documents despite the launch of a civil registration process for Roma. In 2024, CERD recommended that BiH continue its efforts to ensure access to birth registration and identity documents for Roma.