Are there abuses: Businessmen, family men deported due to threats to national security

In recent years, dozens of foreign citizens and persons with permanent residency permits have been deported from Bosnia and Herzegovina without much explanation, based on reports from the Intelligence-Security Agency (OSA) that they pose a threat to the security or public order of Bosnia and Herzegovina, writes Patria. 

As stated for Patria by the Service for Foreigners' Affairs of BiH, when it comes to resolving the status of foreign citizens deemed a threat to the national security of BiH, the Service has received information from other competent security institutions concerning 103 foreign nationals of security interest.

- Out of 103 foreign nationals of security interest, the Service, during 2016, through actions within its jurisdiction and intensified activities of controlling the movement and stay of foreigners in BiH, found, processed, and issued deportation measures for 15 foreign nationals who pose a threat to the public order and security of BiH, while the other individuals were not on the territory of BiH. 

The Service for Foreigners' Affairs has recorded data on all 103 individuals who pose a threat to the public order and security of BiH in the Register of Designated Foreigners ("ROS") database, which is accessible to the BiH Border Police, and for those who are not in BiH, entry will be denied upon their attempt to enter BiH – state the Service for Foreigners' Affairs of BiH.

There are many who have been deported, whose right to a fair defense has been violated, because the reasons for their deportation are hidden under the cloak of data secrecy. Experts claim that this is precisely where possible malversations should be sought, as abuses by authorities can often occur, and deported persons cannot defend themselves because they do not even know what accusations are being made against them.

Some of those seeking their rights include Acik Can, co-owner of a business company, who had permanent residency which was revoked in July 2016 and he was simultaneously deported with a four-year entry ban. Can is a Turkish citizen, and by a final verdict of the BiH Court, he was acquitted of charges for the production and trafficking of narcotic drugs. He is married to a BiH citizen and they have a minor child, but this was not taken as a mitigating circumstance, nor does he know what he is defending himself against or why he is a threat to the national security of BiH.

Several other reputable businessmen who successfully operated their companies have also been deported without explanation. Ismail Ećo, brother of Suad Ećo, director and owner of the company Ećo, was deported in 2016 with a four-year entry ban, while his wife and minor children remained in BiH. Rifat Mana, owner of the company Mars 97, experienced the same fate. Although he had permanent residency, it was revoked in July 2016, and he was simultaneously deported with a four-year entry ban. Mana employed about 100 workers in his company in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

OSA reports are not the only reasons (although they are the most common, author's note) for which people are deported from BiH. As we were told, during 2016, the Service for Foreigners' Affairs issued 29 decisions revoking visa-free stay with deportation measures for foreign nationals, two decisions revoking temporary stay with deportation measures, and 418 decisions on deportation with entry and stay bans in BiH.

- If we consider the legal grounds on which deportation measures were issued, the most frequent reasons for revoking stay for foreign nationals were illegal entry into BiH, stay after the expiry of the visa or residence permit, or after the expiry of visa-free stay, or if their application for residence permit was rejected and they did not leave BiH within the period set for voluntary departure, accepted based on an international agreement on cooperation in the handover and acceptance of persons whose stay is illegal and who do not have a residence permit in BiH, etc. – state the Service for Foreigners' Affairs for Patria.

Furthermore, when discussing the legal grounds for issuing decisions to revoke temporary stay with deportation measures, these were issued because it was determined that the evidence submitted with the application for temporary residence was obtained by fraud, falsified, or illegally altered. 

National security is a term that, in the broadest sense, refers to activities aimed at protecting a certain state from anything that could threaten its existence, sovereignty, fundamental institutions, socio-political order, or vital interests. The individuals mentioned in the text regularly paid taxes, employed BiH citizens, but were deported without adequate justification and the right to defense, because someone wrote that they were a threat to national security.