Migration management: Nearly 1,000 positions unfilled in BiH Border Police and SIPA

(Patria) - The Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted the Information on staffing and provision of material and technical resources in sectors and administrative
organizations of the Ministry of Security responsible for the area of migration, which will be submitted to the Presidency, which requested its preparation.

The Information emphasizes the importance of systematically strengthening material and human capacities in bodies for migration and asylum management in BiH, along with the need to intensify activities for the full takeover of migration management in accordance with adopted strategic goals in the area of migration and asylum and documents of the European Commission.

Timely planning of adequate budget funds, faster recruitment and filling of missing systematized positions, as well as adopting amendments to existing internal organization rulebooks to ensure additional staffing capacities are some of the measures that need to be implemented in the coming period.

According to the Information, institutions and agencies in this area have been working for years under conditions of insufficient staffing, lack of material and technical resources, slow influx of new personnel, and limited budget funds.

In the Ministry of Security - sectors for immigration and asylum, the Border Police of BiH, the Service for Foreigners' Affairs, and the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA), a total of 3,949 positions are systematized, and as of June 30, 2023, 3,020 of them were filled.

During this period, a total of 929 positions were unfilled, most in the Border Police of BiH with 601 and SIPA with 225 positions.