[ Human Trafficking, Country-by-Country ]

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA (Tier 2) – Extracted in part from the U.S. State Dept 2023 TIP Report - BiH

The Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated overall increasing efforts compared with the previous reporting period, considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, if any, on its anti-trafficking capacity; therefore Bosnia and Herzegovina remained on Tier 2. These efforts included increasing overall prosecution efforts with the state, the Federation of BiH (Federation) entity, and Brcko District (BD) convicting more traffickers. Judges issued more sentences with adequate prison terms, including a judge from Tuzla canton issuing the highest sentence for organized child trafficking to date. The State Prosecutor’s Office (SPO) added a specialized prosecutor and an investigator to the Department for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and Illegal Migration, and the government disbursed funding to seven NGO-run shelters after failing to allocate any funds to victim assistance in 2021. The government, with financial and technical assistance from an NGO, created five additional mobile teams to identify vulnerable populations and allocated funds to three local NGOs to organize awareness campaigns. However, the government did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas. The government identified fewer victims and the Republika Srpska (RS) entity did not convict any traffickers. Law enforcement continued to lack capacity, resources, and technical knowledge, which hindered their ability to conduct effective and victim-centered investigations and prosecutions. The government lacked proactive identification efforts, resulting in victims sometimes penalized for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked, particularly with misdemeanor charges for petty crimes or begging. Some authorities did not investigate cases of potential forced child begging and forced labor involving members of the Romani community but rather justified them as traditional cultural practices and customs and returned children to their families, even when their parents were involved in their exploitation. The government did not adopt the guidelines and standards for victim assistance and some cantonal governments did not budget honorariums for regional monitoring teams (RMTs), which hindered participation and coordination.

Prioritized Recommendations

Vigorously investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers and seek adequate penalties, involving, as appropriate, significant prison terms.

Train first responders on victim identification and referral and increase proactive identification efforts, particularly for migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and members of the Romani community.

Ensure victims are not inappropriately penalized solely for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked, particularly victims of sex trafficking, forced begging, and forced criminality.

Increase resources, personnel, and training for law enforcement to investigate complex trafficking cases.

Continue to allocate sufficient funding for NGO-run shelters and victim service providers.

Adopt and implement drafted guidelines and standards on providing victim assistance.

Establish and implement policies to formally disconnect identification procedures and official victim status from cooperation on investigations and prosecutions.

Establish procedures to ensure trafficking cases are handled by trained prosecutors.

Implement victim-centered approaches in prosecutions, particularly for children, and strengthen access to justice, such as allocating sufficient funding for NGOs providing legal assistance.

Train judges to understand the severity of trafficking when issuing sentences and sensitize prosecutors and judges to the issues of secondary trauma and victim-centered approaches.

Integrate Romani advocates into decision-making processes in anti-trafficking efforts.

Train judges on restitution in criminal cases, establish procedures to seize assets from traffickers, and create effective methods to allocate restitution in a timely manner.

Budget and disburse honorariums for all RMTs.