Jašarević: Does someone want to "cleanse" Bosniaks from the census list?

The census of the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina was successful and conducted in accordance with international standards, and there is no reason to try to relativize and rewrite its results now, Adnan Jašarević, director of the "Census 2013" Foundation, told the BH News Agency Patria (NAP).

Jašarević reacted to the statements of the Deputy Director of the Agency for Statistics of BiH, Slavka Popović, who stated in the media that, although 3,791,622 inhabitants were counted in BiH, this number will be reduced because there will be a "statistical cleansing of data".

Popović said that the number would thus be reduced to 3.5 million inhabitants.

- The word "cleansing" used carries very negative connotations, especially when it comes to Bosniaks - he says. However, Jašarević asks what kind of "cleansing" this is and who among the counted will be deleted from the records of a census that was assessed as extremely successful by all international organizations and the European Commission.

- The census has yielded results, and the question arises why someone is now relativizing them. I note that we are talking about some kind of reduction in the BiH population by about 300,000, which is unbelievable. On what basis can someone delete so many people who were properly counted? Controls during the census were rigorous, and there is no basis for such corrections - says Jašarević.

The director of the "Census 2013" Foundation warns that the data from the census will be the basis for establishing BiH's policies in the next decade, and therefore special caution must be exercised during their processing and interpretation.

- There are many interest centers that want to manipulate the data. We fear that behind such statements lie intentions to relativize the number of BiH citizens, and this danger particularly applies to the number of counted Bosniaks in Republika Srpska - concludes Jašarević.